LIBRARY 

OF    THK 

UNIVERSITY   OF  CALIFORNIA. 

OK 


** 


Received 
A  c  cess  ions  No . 


+  :  .  .  .  1  88  J~  . 


Shtlf  No. 


\ 


MILITARY  LESSONS: 


MILITARY  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES,  AND 
MILITIA. 


BY  PROF.  W.  T.  WELCKER, 

II 

PEOFESSOR  OF  MATHEMATICS   AND   CHIEF   OF  MILITARY   INSTRUCTION 
IN  THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA. 


NEW  YORK  AND  CHICAGO: 
IYISON,   BLAKEMAN,   TAYLOR,    &   CO. 

1874. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874, 

BY    IVISON,    BLAKEMAN,    TAYLOR,    &   CO., 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


UNIVERSITY  PRESS  :  WELCH,  BIGELOW,  &  Co., 
CAMBRIDGE. 


PREFACE. 


IN  presenting  this  little  volume  to  the  public,  the 
author  has  sought  to  meet  what  he  believes  to 
be  a  want  of  the  numerous  private  military  schools 
of  the  United  States,  of  those  institutions  of  higher 
learning  where  a  limited  amount  of  military  in- 
struction is  given,  and  of  the  militia  of  the  dif- 
ferent States.  The  late  wars,  home  and  foreign, 
have  shown  that  a  mere  knowledge  of  tactics  is  no 
longer  sufficient ;  that  some  further  knowledge  of 
the  art  of  war  is  requisite,  not  only  among  those 
destined  to  be  officers,  but  even  among  the  private 
soldiers.  And  it  is  believed  that  the  works  hereto- 
fore published  upon  some  of  the  topics  treated  have 
been  too  elaborate,  scientific,  and  technical  for  those 
who  will  be  prevented,  either  by  want  of  technical 
preparation  or  by  w^ant  of  time,  from  pursuing  the 
studies  in  an  exhaustive  manner. 

There  is  but  little  claim  to  originality  advanced ; 
the  following  chapters  are,  in  the  main,  either  trans- 


iv  PREFACE. 

lations  or  compilations  from  various  standard  au- 
thorities on  the  different  subjects  treated. 

But,  while  the  author  deems  the  information 
given  sound  and  valuable,  he  has  avoided,  as  far  as 
possible,  introducing  mathematics  or  other  scientific 
matter  suitable  only  for  the  professional  officer,  who 
studies  the  whole  subject  thoroughly,  or  who  per- 
haps is  devoted  to  a  single  branch,  such  as  military 
engineering  or  artillery.  The  aim  has  been  to  suit 
the  work  to  all  who  have  received  a  common-school 
education. 

It  has  grown  up  as  the  result  of  military  instruc- 
tion, over  and  above  that  in  drill  and  tactics,  given 
to  the  students  of  the  University  of  California. 

W.  T.  WELCKER. 

UNIVERSITY  or  CALIFORNIA, 
August,  1874. 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER   I. 

COMPOSITION  AND   ORGANIZATION   OF   ARMIES. 

PAGE 
Divisions  of  Troops,  —  Infantry,  Cavalry,  Artillery        ...  1 

Greek  Phalanx ^    6 

Roman  Legion     .......... 

Feudal  Period .         .         .         .11 

Heavy  Infantry  ..........          14 

Grenadiers       ...........     15 

Different  Kinds  of  Cavalry,  Cuirassiers,  etc.  .         .         .         .         .          15 

Light  Cavalry          .         .* 18 

Dragoons    .         . 

Hussars  ............     19 

Lancers       ...........          20 

Artillery 21 

Engineer  Troops          .........          23 

CHAPTER   II. 

SUPPLY   OF   ARMIES. 

Pay .         .  24 

Pay  in  European  Services     ........  26 

Subsistence  Department    .........  28 

Supply  of  Clothing  and  Equipage  .         .         .         .         .         .  31 

Medical  Supplies 33 

CHAPTER    III. 

MOVING   OF  ARMIES. 

Different  Methods  of  transporting  Armies          .         .         .         .  .35 

In  the  Neighborhood  of  the  Enemy       .  .         .         .         .         .  37 

Rear- Guard  on  a  Retreat  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .39 

Flank-Guards                                                                ....  40 


vi  CONTENTS. 

Trains 41 

Of  Halts    .     ' 42 

Commander-in-Chief 43 

Commander  of  the  Advanced- Guard      .         .         .         .         .         .  45 

Selection  of  Camps  ..........  47 

Commander  of  the  Rear- Guard  in  Retreat 48 

Duties  of  the  Commanders  of  Flank,  Advanced,  and  Rear  Detachments  49 

Duties  of  Patrols  during  a  March 51 

Regulating  Marches  by  the  Nature  of  the  Ground.         ...  54 


CHAPTER   IV. 

.  PASSAGE  OP  RIVERS  ON  ICE,  BY  FORDS,  BY  BOATS,  AND  ON  RAPTS. 

Selection  of  the  Point  of  Crossing    .         .         .         .         .         .         .58 

To  determine  the  Velocity  of  the  Current 63 

Passage  hy  Swimming 66 

Passage  on  Ice 67 

Fords 67 

Passage  by  Boats 71 

Navigation      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .75 

Rafts  and  Foot-Bridges 77 

CHAPTER   Y. 

MILITARY   BRIDGES   IN    GENERAL. 

Bridge  over  Hellespont  by  Xerxes 80 

Bridges  of  Boats         .         .         . 

Pontons  of  Equipage 85 

Bridges  on  Country  Boats    .         .         .         .         .         .         ... 

Bridges  on  Rafts  of  Logs          .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .87 

To  find  the  Power  of  Flotation 

Bridges  on  Rafts  of  Casks,  Boxes,  and  Skins 89 

Trestle-Bridges 

Preservation  of  Bridges 92 

Passage  of  Bridges      .         . 

Flying -Bridges 95 

Destruction  of  Bridges 

Destruction  of  the  Enemy's  Bridges          ......     97 

CHAPTER   VI. 

PIELD   FORTIFICATION. 

Art  of  Fortification 99 

Profile  of  Parapet  and  Ditch      ...."...          102 
Plan  ....     102 


CONTENTS.  vii 

Redoubt 104 

Flanked  Dispositions      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  104 

Star  Forts 106 

Cremaillere,  Redan,  Lunette,  Priest-Cap ......  107 

Tete-de-pont 108 

Revetments 108 

Fascines 108 

Hurdle  Revetments         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .109 

Gabions 109 

Powder  Magazines          .........  109 

Traverses 110 

Palisades 110 

Block-Houses Ill 

Obstacles Ill 

Chevaux-de-frise,  Crow's-Feet,  Abattis 112 

Attack  and  Defense 112 

Defense 114 

CHAPTER   YII. 

STRATEGY. 

Strategy  defined 116 

Line  of  Operations 118 

Defensive  Plan 123 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THEORY   OP   TIRE   AND   TARGET   PRACTICE. 

Initial  Velocity .  127 

Recoil 129 

Heating  of  the  Barrel 130 

To  find  the  Hausse 134 

Construction  of  the  Trajectory 135 

Causes  of  Deviation  in  the  Projectile       .         .         .         .         .         .135 

Combined  Effect  of  the  Action  of  the  Air,  and  of  Imperfections  in  the 

Projectile 136 

Deviation  from  Unskillfulness  of  the -Marksman  .         .         .         .  138 

Stadia 139 

To  calculate  the  Initial  Velocity .         .         .         .         .         .         .  140 

CHAPTER,    IX. 

SMALL- ARMS. 

Crossbow 149 

Arquebuse          ..........  150 

Firearms       ....                                                                  ,  151 


viii  CONTENTS. 

Different  Methods  of  forcing  the  Ball  into  the  Grooves      .         .         .161 

Pontchara  System •.         .          103 

Systeme  a  tige       .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         ,         .     103 

Balle  a  culot 16? 

Minne-Ball ...     167 

Lancaster  Rifle 168 

Breech-Loaders .169 

Repeating  Rifles,  Remington,  Sharpe,  Peabody,  Ballard,  Needle-Gun, 

Chassepot       ..........     170 

Winchester  Rifle        . 171 


CHAPTER   X. 

MITRAILLEUSE   AND   UNITED   STATES    ORDNANCE. 

Ordinance  of  the  United  States  Service    .         .         .         .         .         .174 

Shell  Guns 175 

Mortars 175 


COMPOSITION  AND  ORGANIZATION  OF  AEMIES. 

AN  army  is  a  collection  of  men  armed  for  war,  and 
organized  in  companies,  regiments,  brigades,  and 
divisions,  under  proper  officers. 

In  modern  times  it  is  composed  of  Infantry,  or  foot- 
soldiers  ;  Cavalry,  or  various  kinds  of  mounted  troops ; 
Artillery,  or  those  who  make  use  of  cannon;  and  Engi- 
neer Troops,  consisting  of  sappers  and  miners,  poritoniers 
and  pioneers. 

These  main  divisions  have  numerous  subdivisions,  of 
which  the  smallest  is  the  Company.  This  is  a  body  of 
troops  varying  in  numbers  from  50  to  200  men;  the  most 
usual  number  being  about  100.  It  is  evidently  the  same 
thing  as  the  Roman  century,  which  was  commanded  by  a 
centurion.  Among  the  Israelites,  we  read  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament of  "  captains  of  a  hundred  "  as  well  as  of  "  captains 
of  fifties." 

The  permanent  commander  of  a  company  is  denominated 
Captain.  Besides  the  captain  there  are  either  two  or  three 
other  officers  in  every  company,  called  Lieutenants.  The 


2  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

captain  and  the  lieutenants  are  called  collectively  company 
commissioned  officers,  because  they  bear  the  commission 
of  the  king,  or  other  chief  of  state,,  with  his  sign-manual. 
Lieutenants  are  classified  as  First  Lieutenants  and  Second 
Lieutenants.  The  second  lieutenant  is  usually  the  lowest 
commissioned  officer  in  an  army. 

The  commission  is  a  letter-patent  from  the  king,,  or  chief 
executive  of  the  state,  declaring  that  he  reposes  special 
trust  and  confidence  in  the  wisdom,  loyalty,  patriotism,  and 
valor  of  A.  B.,  and  does  thereby  appoint  him  to  be  (such 
and  such  an  officer),  and  requires  all  officers  and  soldiers 
to  obey  and  respect  him  accordingly. 

In  the  United  States  service  there  is  also  the  Brevet 
Second  Lieutenant,  who  is  a  supernumerary  second  lieu- 
tenant awaiting  promotion  to  the  full  grade  of  second 
lieutenant.  Between  the  commissioned  officers  and  the 
non-commissioned  officers  there  intervenes  the  grade  of 
warrant  officers.  At  present  there  is,  in  the  United  States 
military  service,  but  one  kind  of  warrant  officers,  i.  e.  the 
Cadet.  The  cadet  is  a  young  officer  bearing  a  warrant  from 
the  Secretary  of  War,  and  is  not  usually  assigned  to  any  of 
the  military  organizations,  but  undergoes  instruction  in  the 
science  and  art  of  war  at  the  national  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point.  Upon  being  graduated  at  this  institution  and 
receiving  his  diploma,  he  is  promoted  to  some  corps  of  the 
army  as  Brevet  Second  Lieutenant,  Second  Lieutenant,  or 
sometimes  to  a  higher  grade.  Cornets  are  warrant  officers 
of  cavalry  in  the  English  service,  and  Ensigns  are  warrant 
officers  of  infantry. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  ARMIES.  3 

In  company  organizations  the  officers  next  below  are 
Sergeants.  This  word  is  derived  by  some  from  the  Latin 
word  "  serviens,"  and  by  others  from,  the  Persian  word 
<c  sarchank  "  or  "  sarjank,"  a  prefect  or  subordinate  mili- 
tary officer.  The  latter  derivation  wo  aid  seem  to  be  the 
most  probable,  from  the  fact  that  the  word  is  pronounced 
sarjeant,  as  if  the  first  syllable  were  spelled  with  an  a. 

This  officer  bears  an  appointment  from  the  colonel  of  the 
regiment;  he  wears  a  sword,  and  usually  in  addition  he 
carries  the  arm  which  is  borne  by  the  soldiers  of  his  com- 
pany. The  chief  sergeant  is  called  the  Orderly  Sergeant. 
He  has,  under  the  commissioned  officers,  a  general  control 
and  superintendence  over  the  company,  calls  the  rolls, 
keeps  the  roster,  and  makes  the  details  of  the  men  for 
guard  duty,  fatigue  duty,  and  other  detachments.  He 
wears  a  sash  like  the  commissioned  officers. 

Besides  the  orderly  sergeant  there  are  -three,  and  some- 
times four,  other  sergeants,  who  have  the  general  super- 
intendence of  the  soldiers,  living  in  quarters  with  them  to 
preserve  order  and  discipline,  and  upon  parade  are  sta- 
tioned in  the  "  line  of  file-closers,"  two  paces  behind  the 
ranks,  to  see  that  the  men  obey  commands  and  properly 
perform  the  movements  which  may  be  ordered. 

Next  to  the  sergeants  are  other  non-commissioned  offi- 
cers called  Corporals,  who  are  stationed  on  the  flanks  of 
the  companies  to  guide  the  same  with  steadiness;  and 
when  any  sergeant  is  absent,  that  one  of  them  may  act  in 
that  capacity.  On  guard  each  relief  is  commanded  by  a 
corporal.  This  completes  the  list  of  the  officers  of  a  com- 


4  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

pany.  To  every  company  of  infantry  there  is  one  drum- 
mer and  one  fifer,  and  to  companies  of  horse  there  should 
be  two  or  more  buglers  or  trumpeters.  These  compose  the 
field-music.  The  remaining  men,  who  compose  the  ranks 
of  the  company,  are  called  the  privates. 

Eight  companies  may,  but  generally  ten  companies  do, 
compose  a  Regiment ;  which,  if  the  companies  contain 
one  hundred  men,  would  make  the  regiment  eight  hundred 
or  one  thousand  strong.  The  commander  of  a  regiment 
is  denominated  Colonel.  Next  in  rank  to  the  colonel  is 
the  Lieutenant-Colonel ;  and  a  Major  is  an  officer  inter- 
mediate between  a  lieutenant-colonel  and  a  captain.  To 
each  regiment  there  is  one,  and  sometimes  two,  majors." 
The  colonel,  lieutenant-colonel,  and  major  or  majors  con- 
stitute what  are  called  the  field  officers,  in  contradistinction 
from  the  captains  and  lieutenants,  who  are  known  as  com- 
pany officers.  Any  number  of  companies  greater  than  one 
and  less  than  a  regiment  is  known  as  a  Battalion,  and 
is  properly  commanded  by  a  lieutenant-colonel  or  a  major. 

A  Brigade  is  composed  generally  of  two  regiments,  but 
sometimes  of  three  or  four  regiments.  This  body  is  com- 
manded by  a  Brigadier-General,  the  lowest  in  rank  of  the 
general  officers. 

From  two  to  six  brigades  constitute  a  Division,  which 
is  commanded  by  a  Major-General.  To  a  division  there 
is  generally  attached  a  certain  proportion  of  artillery  and 
cavalry. 

A  Corps  d'Armee  or  Army  Corps  is  a  body  composed 
of  all  arms  and  numbers,  from  twenty  thousand,  men 


ORGANIZATION   OF  ARMIES.  0 

to  fifty  thousand.  It  is  the  appropriate  command  of  a 
Lieutenant-General,  and  is,  in  effect,  an  army,  and  may 
be  detached  to  act  independently.  Two  or  more  army 
corps  constitute  an  army,  the  commander  of  which  is  a 
General,  making  the  fourth  and  highest  rank  of  general 
officers. 

Whenever  the  proper  commander  of  any  of  the  above- 
described  bodies  of  organization  is  absent,  the  next  in  rank 
takes  command ;  i.  e.  the  senior  officer  present  assumes  the 
command.  In  this  way  a  lieutenant  may  command  a  com- 
pany, a  lieutenant-colonel  a  regiment,  a  colonel  a  brigade,  a 
brigadier-general  a  division,  etc.  Something  like  the  above 
sketch,  with  here  and  there  a  variation,  will  be  a  description 
of  the  organization  of  every  civilized  military  service. 

The  necessities  of  war  must  always  introduce  some  sort 
of  organization  at  a  very  early  period,  even  among  the 
most  barbarous  nations.  The  desultory  efforts  of  individ- 
uals are  speedily  found  inadequate  to  meet  the  shock  of 
men  combined  in  a  mass ;  more  especially  is  this  true  in 
champaign  countries.  There  must  be  a  leader,  and  subor- 
dination to  a  common  head,  with  unity  of  design  every- 
where; but  a  greater  looseness  and  more  of  individual 
action  is  allowable  in  a  broken,  mountainous,  and  timbered 
region  than  upon  plains.  The  ease  with  which  a  loose  and 
scattered  multitude  can  be  swept  away  upon  an  open  plain 
by  a  smaller  body  of  compact  infantry,  or  cut  down  by 
cavalry,  speedily  demonstrates  the  necessity  of  organization. 

The  American  Indians  display  less  desire  and  aptitude 
for  civilization  than  any  people  whatever ;  yet  even  some 


6  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

of  their  tribes  have  been  compelled  to  adopt  something  like 
organization.  This  is  more  particularly  true  of  the  Co- 
manches,  who  operate  on  the  extended  plains  of  Texas  and 
the  neighboring  country. 

Greek  Phalanx.  —  The  earliest  formations  of  which  we 
have  any  very  intelligible  account  are  the  celebrated  Greek 
phalanx  and  Roman  legion,  each  of  which  in  its  turn  con- 
quered the  known  world.  The  grand  phalanx  of  the 
Greeks  was  composed  of  four  phalanxes,  each  phalanx 
being  composed  of  4,096  men.  Sixteen  men  made  a  file, 
counting  from  front  to  rear ;  and  four  files,  making  sixty- 
four  men,  composed  a  Tetrarchy,  and  was  commanded 
by  an  officer  named  a  Tetrarch,  who  may  be  supposed  to 
correspond  to  the  modern  captain  of  infantry.  There  were 
thus  sixty-four  tetrarchies  in  a  phalanx,  and  the  front  line 
contained  256  men.  Thus,  the  phalanx  was  a  solid  rectan- 
gle of  men  256x16.  These  numbers  varied  at  different 
epochs. 

Four  tetrarchies  made  a  Syritagmatarchy,  commanded 
by  a  Syntagmatarch,  who  might  correspond  with  a  major 
of  our  day,  but  in  the  functions  of  his  office  more  resem- 
bled a  colonel.  The  phalanx  was  commanded  by  an  officer 
called  Strategos,  who  corresponded  with  our  brigadier- 
general. 

The  Heavy  Infantry,  or  infantry  of  the  line,  were 
drawn  up  sixteen  deep,  and  they  bore  the  long  Macedonian 
pike,  which  was  twenty-four  feet  long.  When  this  'for- 
midable weapon  was  brought  down  to  the  charge,  those 
of  the  front  rank  extended  twenty-four  feet  towards  the 


ORGANIZATION   OF  ARMIES.  7 

enemy,  and  those  of  the  succeeding  ranks  a  less  and  less 
distance,  unto  the  sixth  rank,  whose  pikes  projected  three 
feet  to  the  front,  making  a  formidable  and  impenetra- 
ble array.  The  men  wore  also  heavy  shields,  which  they 
used,  in  a  charge,  to  cover  their  persons  from  missiles 
coming  either  from  the  front  or  from  above.  Besides  the 
heavy  infantry  there  were  Light  Infantry,  and  two  kinds 
of  cavalry,  heavy  and  light. 

TJpoii  a  plain  where  it  could  act  well  the  phalanx  was 
a  terrible  body  for  either  offence  or  defence,  but  it  was 
extremely  ill-suited  to  broken  ground  or  hilly  countries. 
There  must  also  have  been  a  great  waste  of  material,  be- 
cause after  the  sixth  or  seventh  rank  the  remainder  of  the 
men  were  idle  and  nearly  useless,  except  to  relieve  the  others. 

Roman  Legion.  —  In  the  days  of  the  Republic,  when  it 
was  in  reality  a  republic,  and  previously  to  the  civil  wars 
which  terminated  in  the  establishment  of  the  Caesars,  a 
Roman  army  usually  consisted  of  two  legions  and  two 
wings  of  auxiliary  troops.  The  legion  consisted  of  heavy 
infantry,  light  infantry,  and  cavalry.  The  first  were  cov- 
ered with  defensive  armor  and  wore  the  short  Eoman  sword, 
which  was  two-edged,  straight,  and  heavy.  They  also  car- 
ried a  javelin  about  seven  feet  long,  which  was  named  the 
pilum.  The  light  infantry  carried  a  spear  called  the 
hasta,  shorter  than  the  pilum,  the  short-sword,  and  had, 
for  defence,  only  a  helmet  and  leather  buckler. 

The  cavalry,  in  addition  to  the  helmet  and  buckler,  wore 

)/L\f\f   . 

a  cuirass  for  protection ;  and,  for  offense,  the  Greek  lance, 
a  long  curved  sword  or  saber,  and  a  quiver  with  darts. 


8  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

Like  the  phalanx,  the  legion  at  different  times  contained 
different  numbers  of  men,  but  about  four  thousand  was  the 
average.  The  principal  officers  were  sixty  Centurions,  or 
captains,  and  six  Tribunes,  or  colonels.  In  the  earlier 
times  these  tribunes  took  the  command  by  turns,  each  tour 
of  duty  lasting  two  months.  Subsequently  a  permanent 
commander,  styled  a  Le'gatus,  was  appointed. 

The  habitual  order  of  battle  of  the  legion  was  in  three 
lines  within  supporting  distance  of  one  another,  and  with 
cavalry  on  the  wings.  The  greatest  depth  of  formation  was 
ten  ranks,  and  a  portion  of  the  troops  were  only  six  deep. 
Thus,  the  legion  was  not  so  cumbersome  as  the  phalanx,  and 
could  adapt  itself  much  more  readily  to  the  accidents  of  the 
ground. 

Just  preceding  the  onset  the  legionaries  hurled  their  jav- 
elins upon  the  enemy,  and  then  threw  themselves  upon  him 
with  the  terrible  short-sword.  But  it  is  apparent  that  the 
legion  was  not  so  good,  from  its  composition,  to  withstand 
the  attacks  of  cavalry  as  the  formidable  array  of  pikes 
bristling  from  the  phalanx.  Owing  to  the  depth  of  their 
ranks,  neither  would  do  when  exposed  to  modem  firearms 
and  artillery.  Imagine  the  havoc  that  would  be  made  in  a 
Grecian  phalanx  by  a  mitrailleuse  ! 

Before  quitting  the  legion  it  may  be  well  to  adduce  the 
testimony  of  Josephus  upon  the  subject,  although  what  he 
says  has  more  reference  to  the  discipline  of  the  legion,  its 
camps  and  marches,  than  to  its  organization.  In  speaking 
of  the  legion  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Yespa- 
sian,  he  says  :  — 


ORGANIZATION  OF  ARMIES.  9 

"  If  any  does  but  attend  to  the  other  parts  of  their  mili- 
tary discipline,  he  will  be  forced  to  confess  that  their  ob- 
taining so  large  a  dominion  hath  been  the  acquisition  of 
their  valor  and  not  the  bare  gift  of  fortune,  for  they  do  not 
begin  to  use  their  weapons  first  in  time  of  war,  nor  do 
they  then  put  their  hands  first  into  motion,  which  they 
avoided  so  to  do  in  times  of  peace,  but  as  if  their  weapons 
did  always  cling  to  them,  they  have  never  any  truce  from 
warlike  exercises,  nor  do  they  stay  till  times  of  war  admon- 
ish them  to  use  them ;  for  their  military  exercises  differ  not 
at  all  from  the  real  use  of  their  arms,  but  every  soldier  is 
every  day  exercised,  and  that  with  great  diligence,  as  if  it 
were  in  time  of  war,  which  is  the  reason  why  they  bear  the 
fatigues  of  battles  so  easily,  for  neither  can  any  disorder 
remove  them  from  their  usual  regularity,  nor  can  fear 
affright  them  out  of  it,  nor  can  labor  tire  them ;  which 
firmness  of  conduct  makes  them  always  to  overcome  them 
that  have  not  the  same  firmness,  nor  would  he  be  mistaken 
that  should  call  those  their  exercises  unbloody  battles,  and 
their  battles  bloody  exercises. 

"  Nor  can  their  enemies  surprise  them  with  the  sudden- 
ness of  their  incursions ;  for  as  soon  as  they  have  marched 
into  an  enemy's  land  they  do  not  begin  to  fight  till  they 
have  walled  their  camp  about,  nor  is  the  fence  they  raise 
rashly  made  nor  uneven,  ....  but  if  it  happens  that  the 
ground  is  uneven  it  is  first  leveled ;  their  camp  is  also  four 
square  by  measure,  and  carpenters  are  ready  in  great  num- 
bers with  their  tools  to  erect  the  buildings  for  them. 

"  As  for  what  is  within  the  camp,  it  is  set  apart  for 


10  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

tents,  but  the  outward  circumference  of  it  hath  the  resem- 
blance to  a  wall,  and  is  adorned  with  towers  at  equal  dis- 
tances, where  between  the  towers  stand  the  engines  for 
throwing  arrows  and  darts  and  for  slinging  stones,  and 
where  they  lay  all  other  engines  that  can  annoy  the  enemy 
all  ready  for  their  several  operations.  They  also  erect  four 
gates,  one  at  every  side  of  the  circumference,  and  those  large 
enough  for  the  entrance  of  the  beasts  and  wide  enough  for 
the  making  of  excursions  if  occasion  should  require 

"  When  they  have  secured  themselves,  they  live  together 
by  companies  in  quietness  and  decency,  as  are  all  their 
affairs  managed  with  good  order  and  security.  Each 
company  hath  also  their  wood  and  their  corn  and  their 
water  brought  to  them  when  they  stand  in  need  of  them, 
for  they  neither  sup  nor  dine  as  they  please  themselves, 
singly,  but  all  together.  Their  times  also  for  sleeping  and 
watching  and  rising  are  notified  beforehand  by  the  sound 
of  trumpets 

"  Now  when  they  are  to  go  out  of  their  camp  the 
trumpet  gives  a  sound,  at  which  time  nobody  lies  still,  but 
at  the  first  intimation  they  take  down  their  tents  and  all 
is  made  ready  for  their  going  out ;  then  do  the  trumpets 
sound  again  to  order  them  to  get  ready  for  the  march,  then 
do  they  lay  their  baggage  suddenly  upon  their  mules  and 
other  beasts  of  burden,  and  stand  as  at  the  place  of  starting 
ready  to  march.  Then  does  the  crier  stand  at  the  general's 
right  hand  and  ask  them  thrice  in  their  own  tongue  whether 
they  be  now  ready  to  go  out  to  war  or  not.  To  which  they 
reply  as  often  with  a  loud  and  cheerful  voice,  '  We  are 


ORGANIZATION   OF  ARMIES.  11 

ready ! '  And  this  they  do  almost  before  the  question  is 
asked  them ;  they  do  this  as  filled  with  a  kind  of  martial 
fury,  and  at  the  same  time  that  they  so  cry  out  they  lift  up 
their  right  hands  also. 

"  When  after  this  they  are  gone  out  of  their  camp  they 
all  march  without  noise,  and  in  a  decent  manner,  and  every 
one  keeps  his  own  rank,  as  they  were  going  to  war." 

The  extracts  from  Josephus  here  made  are  somewhat 
copious,  but  it  is  thought  that  the  reproduction  of  the 
daily  camp  life  and  discipline  of  those  renowned  veterans 
who  subdued  the  world,  as  it  took  place  eighteen  centuries 
ago,  cannot  fail  to  be  interesting  and  instructive  to  the 
military  student. 

Subsequent  to  the  decay  of  the  Eoman  discipline  and 
the  loss  of  the  legionary  organization,  after  a  long  interval 
we  come  to  the  Feudal  Period.  During  this  period  the 
bulk  of  armies  was  cavalry,  and  with  but  little  of  organiza- 
tion. Tactics  and  strategy  were  almost  unknown.  Every- 
thing was  remitted  to  individual  courage,  skill,  and  enter- 
prise. Two  armies  were  two  great  mobs  who  sought  each 
other,  and  when  confronted,  after  some  interchanges,  through 
their  respective  heralds-at-arms,  of  courtesies  or  defiances, 
fell  upon  each  other  pell-mell  in  two  long  paralled  lines, 
and  fought  with  ferocity  and  much  exhibition  of  physical 
strength  and  manual  dexterity.  The  accounts  of  the  bat- 
tles in  which  the  destinies  of  nations  were  decided  are  the 
accounts  of  a  series  of  detached  combats  along  the  lines, 
where  the  greatest  kings  and  leaders  were  doing  and  could 
only  do  the  duties  of  private  soldiers ;  and  he  who  could 


12  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

swing  the  heaviest  battle-ax  with  the  greatest  skill  was  the 
greatest  general.  It  is  not  asserted  that  there  were  no  ex- 
ceptions to  this  statement,  but  it  may  fairly  represent  the 
system.  The  cavaliers  as  well  as  their  horses  were  gener- 
ally clothed  in  heavy  defensive  armor. 

As  we  advance  towards  modern  times  we  behold  the 
second  rise  of  military  science. 

The  Swiss  infantry  first  demonstrated  the  superior  virtue 
of  organization,,  and  of  disciplined  concert  of  action.  These 
troops,,  really  deserving  that  name/were  not  only  able  to 
defend  their  own  country,  but  soon  were  found  as  merce- 
naries in  most  -of  the  continental  states  of  Europe ;  their 
palpable  superiority  causing  them  to  be  regarded  as  indis- 
pensable auxiliaries. 

A  succession  of  able  leaders  appeared  from  time  to  time  ; 
such  as  William  and  Maurice  of  Orange  and  Nassau, 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  Turenne-,  Conde,  Eugene,  and  Marl- 
borough,  who  restored  the  lost  principles  and  spirit  of  the 
art  and  science  of  war,  and  adapted  them  to  firearms 
and  cannon.  The  bayonet  replaced  the  pike,  and  the  deep 
formations  of  infantry  were  abandoned,  to  avoid  the  exces- 
sive slaughter  by  projectiles  launched  by  the  enormous 
force  of  gunpowder,  and  also  to  utilize  one's  own  muskets 
by  a  more  extended  line  of  battle  for  the  same  number  of 
troops.  Infantry  was  ranged  in  three  ranks  and  two  or 
three  lines  at  a  good  supporting  distance  from  each  other, 
with  artillery  in  the  intervals  of  battalions,  and  cavalry  on 
the  wings  or  in  rear,  to  be  hurled  at  the  opportune  mo- 
ment against  the  enemy's  forces,  when  shaken  by  the  fire 


ORGANIZATION   OF  ARMIES.  13 

of  .infantry  or  artillery.  The  three  arms  were  united,  and 
caused  to  co-operate  in  suitable  proportions  to  each  other. 
The  improvements  of  this  kind  were  carried  still  further  by 
Frederick  the  Great  and  Napoleon.  The  infantry  was  dis- 
covered to  be  the  mainstay,  the  grand  frame  of  the  army, 
and  the  only  arm  which  was  self-sustaining  and  capable  of 
acting  alone. 

The  part  of  Artillery  is  to  produce  a  great  moral 
effect  upon  the  enemy,  to  demoralize  him  by  its  terrible 
roar  and  the  tremendous  crash  of  its  great  projectiles, 
which  demolish  houses  and  tear  their  way  to  the  extreme 
rear  of  columns ;  to  strike  him  at  long  range,  and  to 
prevent  his  coming  out  from  cover  at  particular  points; 
to  shake  his  masses  of  infantry  or  cavalry  previous  to  a 
charge;  and  to  concentrate  upon  his  columns  advancing 
to  the  attack  a  heavy  cannonade  while  yet  a  great  way 
off,  and  to  shatter  them  with  grape-shot  (or  small  and 
numerous  projectiles)  when  within  short  range. 

The  Cavalry  were  found  to  be  invaluable  in  escorts, 
reconnoissances,  and  outpost  service ;  to  fight  the  enemy's 
cavalry,  and  to  charge  his  infantry  when  broken  by  the 
charge  or  fire  of  infantry,  or  by  artillery  fire ;  to  complete 
the  rout  and  dispersion,  and  to  make  prisoners. 

Generals  learned  to  use  the  different  arms  either  simulta- 
neously or  successively,  according  to  the  demands  of  the 
hour  or  locality ;  sending  infantry  to  strike  or  dislodge  the 
enemy,  over  ground  impassable  by  artillery  and  cavalry; 
and  artillery  to  annoy  or  drive  the  enemy  when  posted 
beyond  streams  out  of  range  of  muskets  and  impassable  by 


14  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

cavalry ;  to  make  use  of  the  speed  of  cavalry  in  surprises ; 
by  concealed  marches  to  burst  upon  the  enemy's  flank  or 
rear,  or  to  cut  his  communications  and  capture  his  supplies. 

As  before  remarked,,  the  infantry  is  the  principal  arm  of 
the  organization ;  hence  the  bulk  of  the  troops  must  be  of 
that  description. 

The  cavalry  should,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  thea- 
ter of  war,  vary  from  one  sixth  to  one  fourth  of  the  num- 
ber of  the  infantry.  The  smaller  proportion  is  used  in 
broken  and  mountainous  districts,  and  the  larger  in  level 
countries. 

Proportion  of  Artillery.  —  About  two  pieces  of  artillery 
—  field  artillery  —  to  every  thousand  of  the  sum  of  the 
infantry  and  cavalry  have  been  generally  deemed  correct. 
Napoleon  increased  this  proportion  somewhat,  and  the  ten- 
dency of  ideas  still  more  recent  seems  to  be  in  the  same 
direction. 

Heavy  Infantry.  —  Lafantry  has  generally  been  subdi- 
vided into  heavy  infantry,  or  infantry  of  the  line,  and  light 
infantry.  In  early  times  the  former  were  generally  armed 
with  a  sword;  but  while  it  has  always  been  debatable 
whether  it  was  not  injudicious  to  load  the  soldier  down 
with  this  encumbrance,  and  to  fail  to  rely  upon  the  bayo- 
net, it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  the  arrangement  is  bad 
nowadays,  when  the  bayonet  exercise  is  universally  taught. 

In  the  United  States  service  no  distinction  is  made 
among  the  infantry.  Arms  of  precision  and  long  range  are 
issued  to  all,  and  all  are  expected  to  learn  the  skill  in  the 
use  of  the  weapon,  and  the  agility  of  body  and  celerity  of 


ORGANIZATION  OP  ARMIES.  15 

action  necessary  to  the  movements  of  'skirmishers  and  of 
ligl^t  infantry. 

Occasionally  we  hear  the  term  Grenadiers.  This  name 
is  a  relic  of  the  former  custom  of  selecting  certain  of  the 
largest  and  strongest  men,  who  were  trained  to  hurl  by  hand 
lighted  grenades  or  shells  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy. 
The  practice  still  prevails  among  the  besieged,  who  throw 
these  hand-grenades  over  the  ramparts  upon  the  enemy 
when  he  has  got  into  the  ditch  and  is  endeavoring  to 
mount  the  breach. 

Different  Kinds  of  Cavalry.  —  There  are  some  sub- 
divisions of  mounted  troops  which  are  worthy  of  a  passing 
notice. 

Cuirassiers,  or  heavy  cavalry.  These  troops  are  so  de- 
nominated from  the  cuirass  —  a  defensive  armor  for  the 
body  —  which  they  wear.  The  cuirass  is  a  kind  of  close- 
fitting  metallic  jacket,  and  is  composed  of  a  plastron  or 
breastplate,  a  back,  and  a  padding  on  the  inside.  This 
internal  upholstering  is  to  prevent  the  cuirass  galling  or 
abrading  the  skin  of  the  wearer,  and  to  make  it  set  well 
upon  him.  The  back  and  plastron  are  united  at  top  by 
leather  straps  or  suspenders,  which  are  covered  over  with 
brass  in  order  that  they  shall  not  be  cut  in  two  by  a  blow 
from  the  saber.  A  leather  belt  and  buckle  unite  the 
pieces  below  at  the  waist.  The  front  of  the  cuirass  is 
formed  into  a  protuberant  angle,  in  order  to  give  greater 
obliquity  to  the  sides  of  this  defensive  armor,  and  to  cause 
balls  which  strike  it  to  glance  off. 

Both  the  plastron  and  back  are  bordered  by  a  raised  rim 


16  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

or  groove,  to  arrest  the  point  of  the  saber  on  occasion  of  a 
thrust,  and  prevent  its  passing  off  on  to  parts  of  the  body 
which  are  not  protected.  Cuirasses  are  made  of  iron  and 
steel;  the  breastplate,  but  not  the  back,  being  tempered. 
The  plastron  is  ball-proof  at  the  distance  of  forty-five 
yards;  the  back  is  only  saber-proof.  This  distance  is 
fixed  upon,  because  when  cavalry  in  a  charge  upon  infantry 
have  arrived  within  forty-five  yards,  the  infantry  have  no 
more  time  to  fire,  but  must  promptly  betake  themselves  to 
the  bayonet ;  hence  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  cuirass 
should  be  ball-proof  within  that  distance.  But  now  that 
we  have  repeating  rifles  which  can  be  fired  up  to  the  last 
moment,  this  consideration  is  no  longer  sound.  The  backs 
are  made  saber-proof,  and  not  ball-proof,  in  order  that  the 
horseman  may  feel  that  it  is  safer  to  face  the  enemy  than 
to  turn  back  upon  him. 

After  the  introduction  of  firearms,  defensive  armor  had 
been  completely  abandoned;  but  the  cuirass  and  helmet 
were  restored  by  Napoleon,  who  clearly  perceived  the  ad- 
vantages of  their  use  to  heavy  cavalry.  Sappers  and  min- 
ers should  be  protected  by  defensive  armor  while  opening 
trenches  and  pushing  approaches.  For  them  the  back  of 
the  cuirass  should  be  bullet-proof,  for  they  are  compelled 
to  expose  their  backs  while  in  the  attitude  of  digging. 

The  cavalry  helmet  is  made  of  the  same  materials  and  on 
the  same  principles  as  the  cuirass. 

The  cuirassiers  are  armed  with  a  saber  and  pistol.  In 
some  armies  a  certain  proportion  of  them  are  armed  with  a 
musketoon  or  carbine  also;  but  the  firearm  should  be  a 


ORGANIZATION   OF  ARMIES.  17 

matter  of  but  little  importance,  for  it  is  by  their  shock  that 
heavy  cavalry  should  expect  success ;  therefore  their  main 
reliance  ought  to  be  upon  the  spur  and  the  saber.  They 
should  be  held  in  reserve  under  cover  till  the  opportune 
moment  for  charging,  and  then  launched  against  the  masses 
of  the  enemy,  shaken  and  wavering  from  the  fire  of  artillery 
or  infantry,  or  from  any  other  cause.  If  a  general  can 
succeed  in  hurling  his  cuirassiers  against  the  flank  of  an 
enemy's  column,  his  success  may  be  considered  as  assured. 
There  is  but  little  use  in  cavalry  charges  against  well- 
formed  squares  of  veteran  infantry,  or  even  when  in  line. 
The  fire  of  musketry  with  its  noise  and  smoke  fills  the 
horses  generally  with  an  uncontrollable  terror,  and  they 
cannot  be  forced  on  to  the  bayonets.  Besides,  the  fire  of 
the  infantry  kills  or  wounds  a  number  of  horses  and  empties 
a  number  of  saddles,  which  breaks  the  continuity  of  the  line. 
A  celebrated  and  familiar  instance  is  to  be  found  in  the 
numerous  and  unsuccessful  attempts  by  Napoleon  to  break 
Wellington's  squares  at  Waterloo.  Here,  instead  of  charg- 
ing in  line,  deep  columns  were  formed,  with  the  expectation 
that  the  rear  horses,  unable  to  see  what  was  going  on  in 
front,  would  by  sheer  physical  pressure  drive  the  head  of 
the  column  upon  and  through  the  sides  of  the  squares. 
But  the  result  was  a  complete  failure.  The  horses  which 
fell  were  stumbling-blocks  for  others  following,  and,  when 
up  to  the  squares,  the  wounded  and  terrified  animals  could 
not  be  forced  to  leap  upon  the  firm  array  of  bayonets,  but 
either  reared  and  fell  in  place,  or  fled  in  desperation  towards 
either  flank  of  the  column,  or  tore  their  way  to  the  rear. 


18  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

The  Prussian  infantry  at  Sedan  withstood  and  repelled 
charges  of  the  French  cavalry. 

But  when  the  ranks  are  disordered  and  broken  the  case 
is  different ;  the  horses  seem  to  appreciate  the  circumstances 
of  the  case,  and  dash  in  with  a  good  will.  Few  things  are 
more  terrible  to  a  mob  than  a  charge  of  dragoons  ! 

Light  Cavalry  have  no  defensive  armor,  being,  as  a 
general  rule,  armed  with  saber  and  pistol  only.  Sometimes 
it  happens  that  a  portion  or  all  of  the  men  are  provided 
with  carbines.  They  are  used  on  the  field  of  battle  for 
movements  requiring  speed,  for  protecting  the  flanks  of  the 
heavy  cavalry,  for  pursuing  and  harassing  a  routed  enemy, 
and  for  taking  prisoners. 

They  are  also  used  for  escort  duties,  for  reconnoissances, 
for  outpost  and  picket  duty,  to  forage,  to  levy  exactions 
upon  unprotected  populations,  to  cut  telegraph-wires,  to 
destroy  railways,  etc. 

In  the  army  of  the  United  States  there  are  none  but  light 
cavalry.  None  of  our  neighbors  on  this  continent  keep 
heavy  cavalry,  nor  is  it  probable  that  such  will  be  brought 
against  us  from  beyond  sea.  We  rely  upon  our  infantry 
and  artillery  to  put  those  of  the  enemy  in  such  a  condition 
that  they  would  be  legitimate  game  for  our  light  cavalry. 
At  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo  the  slaughter  inflicted  upon 
the  broken  and  flying  Mexicans  was  frightful. 

A  Dragoon  is  a  mounted  musketeer,  or  an  infantry  sol- 
dier on  horseback.  This  is  the  theoretical  idea  of  a 
dragoon;  practically  the  name  is  often  applied  to  a  hus- 
sar. The  original  design  was  to  transport  the  men  rapidly 


ORGANIZATION   OF  ARMIES.  19 

to  the  points  where  they  were  required,  there  to  dismount 
and  fight  on  foot.  But  genuine  dragoons  are  regarded  as 
a  failure.  They  are  not  prepared  to  fight  as  cavalry ,  and 
the  speed  with  which  considerable  bodies  can  be  moved  is 
found  not  to  exceed  much  that  of  well-seasoned  light 
infantry,  and  they  cannot  get  over  ground  which  is  quite 
practicable  to  the  latter;  besides,  the  services  of  all  the 
men  who  are  required  to  hold  the  horses  while  the  others 
are  fighting  are  lost,  and  when  they  become  separated  from 
their  horses  the  latter  are  liable  to  be  captured;  or  else 
the  fear  of  it  may  recall  the  dragoons  from  their  work  to 
prevent  it. 

The  regiment  of  mounted  riflemen  was  organized  upon 
this  theory  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Mexican  War ;  but  during 
that  campaign  they  acted  as  light  infantry,  and  subsequently 
as  light  cavalry.  Even  the  name  has  been  abolished,  and 
the  regiment  now  constitutes  one  of  the  regiments  of 
cavalry. 

The  Hussar  is  a  light  cavalryman  armed  with  saber, 
pistol,  and  generally  with  a  carbine. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  load  a  gun  at  the  muzzle  with  a 
rammer  while  seated  on  a  horse,  for  during  the  operation 
the  rider  necessarily  loses  control  of  his  horse,  the  motions 
and  restiveness  of  which  greatly  interfere  with  placing  the 
cartridge  in  the  bore,  ramming,  returning  rammer,  and 
capping.  Besides,  effective  firing  at  long  range  can  be  done 
upon  few  horses  and  by  few  men.  This  would  confine  the 
useful  fire  of  dragoons  and  hussars  to  a  short  range,  where 
accuracy  of  aim  was  of  slight  consequence;  under  these 


20  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

circumstances  a  repeating  pistol  with  a  heavy  charge  would 
be  better. 

Lancers  are  a  kind  of  cavalry  unknown  in  the  United 
States  service,  but  much  used  and  highly  esteemed  in  the 
Eussian  and  Mexican  armies.  The  French  also  have  some 
lancers ;  and  the  lance  is  considered  the  distinctive  weapon 
of  the  Poles. 

The  world-renowned  Cossacks  are  an  irregular  light  cav- 
alry of  the  Russian  service,  armed  with  lances,  pistols,  and 
sabers.  Some  Cossacks  are  armed  as  dragoons,  and  some 
of  the  Eussian  cuirassiers  have  the  front  rank  armed  with 
lances. 

The  Cossack  cavalry  are  remarkable  both  for  the  nature 
of  the  men  and  that  of  the  horses.  The  rider  and  the 
animal  are  both  wild,  hardy,  intelligent,  extremely  active, 
capable  of  much  fatigue,  thirst,  and  hunger  j  and  either  can 
manage  to  live  and  be  highly  efficient  upon  very  slender 
resources.  The  Cossacks  make  extremely  long  and  rapid 
marches.  General  McClellan,  in  his  report  upon  the  Eussian 
cavalry,  states  that  "  a  march  of  forty  miles  is  a  common 
thing  •  they  will  make  forced  marches  of  seventy  miles ;  in 
a  thickly  settled  country  they  have  in  two  days  made  six 
marches  of  ordinary  cavalry  without  being  discovered." 
The  latter  fact  also  shows  their  stealthiness  and  cunning. 

The  lance  was,  for  a  long  period,  used  by  French  horse- 
men, but  was  abandoned  about  the  time  of  Henry  IV.  of 
France  for  the  saber  and  firearms.  At  a  time  when  battles 
were  a  series  of  individual  combats,  this  was  a  sensible 
exchange,  because,  man  to  man,  the  saber  would  be  better 


ORGANIZATION   OF  ARMIES.  21 

•than  the  lance;  but  at  a  time  when  the  action  of  masses 
replaced  these  individual  encounters,  the  case  assumed  a 
different  aspect.  If  two  lines  of  cavalry,  equal  in  all 
other  respects,  were  to  meet,  especially  at  the  gallop,  few 
would  anticipate  anything  but  victory  for  the  lancers. 
Napoleon,  by  incorporating  into  his  forces  some  Polish 
lancers  in  1807,  again  introduced  the  lance  into  the  French 
army,  where  it  maintains  itself,  as  above  remarked,  to  the 
present  time. 

As  Americans  are  fine  riders  and  have  good  horses,  it  is 
very  much  to  be  desired  that  the  lance  should  be  tried  in 
our  service.  It  is  certain  that  our  troops  in  the  war  with 
the  Mexicans  regarded  their  lancers  as  the  most  formidable 
of  their  organizations. 

The  lance  is  an  arm  very  valuable  in  pursuit,  which  con- 
sideration classifies  lancers  as  light  cavalry.  The  lance  con- 
sists of  a  steel  spear-head  on  a  long  pole  or  handle,  which 
must  be  straight,  while  the  head  must  be  tough,  oblong, 
pointed,  and  not  bulky,  so  as  to  be  able  to  penetrate  the 
frame  of  a  man  or  an  animal. 

The  center  of  gravity  should  be  at  or  near  the  gripe,  so 
that  the  weapon  can  be  accurately  guided ;  and  accordingly 
the  butt-end  of  the  pole  should  carry  a  counterpoise,  so 
as  to  throw  the  center  of  gravity  into  the  gripe. 

Artillery.  —  Artillery  is  divided  by  the  caliber  of  the 
pieces  into  Siege  and  Garrison  artillery  and  into  Heavy  and 
Light  field  artillery.  The  first  is  used  in  the  attack  and 
defense  of  places.  Field  artillery  is  drawn  by  horses,  and 
moves  with  the  troops  in  campaign.  It  is  of  course  much 


22  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

lighter  and  more  mobile  than  the  former.  The  heavy  field- 
batteries  are  batteries  of  position;  they  attain  the  enemy 
at  greater  distances  than  do  the  light,  serve  to  destroy  his 
cover,  and  often  drive  him  from  shelter.  Light  artillery, 
on  the  other  hand,  dashes  abont  the  field  according,  to  the 
varying  exigencies  of  the  conflict,  and  pours  its  missiles 
into  the  enemy's  troops. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  artillery,  foot  and  horse  artillery. 
The  pieces  and  caissons  of  each  are  drawn  by  horses,  usu- 
ally six  to  a  carriage,  but  in  horse  artillery  the  cannoneers 
are  mounted  on  horseback  when  not  serving  the  pieces; 
whereas  in  foot  artillery  the  cannoneers  habitually  follow 
the  pieces  on  foot,  and  it  is  only  when  upon  good  ground 
and  when  the  design  is  to  move  with  great  speed  that  they 
are  allowed  to  mount  and  ride  upon  the  boxes. 

Horse  artillery  serves  with  the  cavalry,  and  the  foot-bat- 
teries with  the  infantry  divisions.  Erom  the  open  and 
dispersed  nature  of  its  formation,  horse  artillery  is  not  ca- 
pable of  efficient  self-defense.  Its  value  is  in  offense,  and 
it  requires  to  be  protected  from  capture  by  the  other  arms ; 
to  this  end  it  generally  has  an  infantry  support.  La  Vega's 
battery,  which  was  captured  by  May's  dragoons  during  the 
Mexican  War,  had  no  support.  Horse  artillery  was  in- 
vented by  Gustavus  Adolphus. 

Field  artillery  is  of  great  importance  when  the  troops  are 
raw  and  new  to  battle.  A  skillful  general  will  place  his  few 
good  troops  on  the  points  of  attack,  and  protect  the  other 
points  by  massing  strong  batteries  there.  He  will  thus  lend 
physical  support  to  his  less  reliable  troops,  and  encourage 


ORGANIZATION   OF  ARMIES.  23 

them  by  the  moral  effect  of  the  guns.  On  open  plains, 
where  it  can  move  and  fire  in  all  directions,  artillery  is  of 
high  importance ;  massing  strong  batteries  will  supply  the 
want  of  military  positions,  and  the  fact  that  these  artificial 
military  positions  are  movable  is  a  great  additional  power 
in  the  hands  of  a  skillful  general. 

In  broken  and  mountainous  countries  infantry  naturally 
plays  the  most  important  part,  but  even  there  artillery  may 
be  very  useful  to  concentrate  a  heavy  fire  on  a  narrow 
defile,  to  shell  and  burn  villages,  demolish  houses,  etc. 

Engineer  Troops  are  sappers  and  miners,  who  open  the 
trenches  and  conduct  the  approaches  in  a  siege,  who  sap, 
undermine,  and  blow  up  the  enemy's  walls,  and  construct 
siege-batteries  and  mortar-batteries;  pontoniers  lay  and 
preserve  military  bridges,  and  pioneers  remove  obstacles  to 
the  march  of  columns,  such  as  fallen  trees,  etc.,  or  steep 
declivities,  or  place  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  enemy. 

Besides  the  various  organizations  above  referred  to,  there 
are  several  staff  corps  to  assist  the  general  or  to  supply  the 
troops.  Of  such  are  the  Adjutant-General's  Department, 
the  Ordnance  Department,  the  Subsistence  Department,  the 
Quartermaster's  Department,  the  Medical  Department,  and 
the  Signal  Corps. 


CHAPTER    II. 

SUPPLY  OF  ARMIES. 

THE  last  chapter  was  devoted  to  examining  the  nature 
of  the  composition  and  organization  of  armies ;  in 
this  let  us  investigate  the  methods  of  supplying  them ;  for 
after  an  army  has  been  organized,  the  next  step  is  to  clothe, 
equip,  and  arm  it. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  for  us  to  descend  into  very 
minute  particulars,  for  there  is  no  invariable  rule  upon 
these  subjects,  the  practice  and  methods  of  accomplishing 
the  object  being  different  in  different  countries,  and  in  the 
same  country  at  different  times. 

Pay.  —  The  pay  allowed  to  soldiers  and  officers  by  the 
government  is  distributed  to  them  at  regular  periods  by 
the  captains  of  companies  or  by  the  paymaster.  In  the 
United  States  service  this  duty  is  performed  by  paymasters, 
who  usually  have  the  rank  of  major,  and  who  visit  the 
various  bodies  of  troops  in  their  respective  districts  once  in 
every  two  months. 

The  entire  force  is,  on  this  occasion,  mustered,  i.  e.  paraded 
and  inspected,  and  the  presence  of  the  different  individuals 
belonging  to  it  verified  by  calling  the  Muster-Koll.  If 
any  of  the  command  should,  by  wounds  or  sickness,  be 


SUPPLY   OP  ARMIES. 


25 


prevented  from  being  present  at  the  muster,  the  mustering 
officer  visits  the  hospital  or  quarters  and  assures  himself 
that  there  are  present  and  in  the  command  all  those  whose 
names  are  upon  the  muster-roll. 

The  only  exception  to  this  rule  is  in  the  case  of  persons 
absent  by  authority,  such  as  those  on  furlough  or  detatched 
service ;  and  in  their  case  the  orders  and  authority  for  such 
absence  must  be  exhibited. 

The  pay  delivered  to  the  individual  at  the  table  of  the 
paymaster  is  his  own  to  dispose  of  as  to  him  may  seem 
good.  There  is  no  superintendence  or  control  exercised 
over  the  disbursement  of  his  money  by  any  authority,  as  is 
the  case  in  some  of  the  services  of  Europe. 

In  the  case  of  non-commissioned  officers  and  soldiers  the 
piy  is  over  and  above  the  allowance  of  Clothing,  Quar- 
ters, Rations,  and  Fuel,  all  of  which  are  furnished  by  the 
government.  Arms  are  intrusted  to  the  men  to  be  by 
them  used  in  the  discharge  of  their  military  duties/  but 
they  remain  the  property  of  the  United  States. 

The  pay  of  a  soldier  of  infantry  or  artillery  is  as  follows  : 
private,  thirteen  dollars  per  month ;  corporal,  thirteen  dol- 
lars ;  sergeant,  seventeen  dollars. 

For  the  cavalry,  engineers,  ordnance,  and  special  corps, 
a  few  dollars  more  per  month. 

There  is,  moreover,  an  extra  duty  allowance  prescribed 
by  law  of  Congress,  for  duties  not  contemplated  as  in  the 
habitual  routine  of  military  exactions;  such  as  those  of 
laborers,  teamsters,  mechanics,  etc.,  in  the  Quartermaster's 
Department.  Moreover,  for  wounds  and  disabilities  con- 
2 


26  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

tracted  or  received  in  service  certain  pensions  are  allowed 
by  law. 

In  European  services,,  as  before  remarked,  a  different 
practice  prevails.  Tor  instance,,  in  that  of  Prance,  accord- 
ing to  Mordecai,  "the  pay  and  allowances  vary  with  the 
state  of  the  .troops,  whether  on  peace  establishment,  assem- 
bled for  active  service  (as  in  camps  of  instruction  or  prep- 
aration for  war),  or  in  war.  The  War  Pay  is  uniform, 
but  the  compensation  in  time  of  peace  depends  on  the 
individual  position  of  the  officer  or  soldier  in  actual  ser- 
vice; such  as  whether  he  is  stationary  or  on  a  march, 
present  or  absent  from  his  regiment,  on  furlough,  in  hos- 
pital, in  confinement,  or  a  prisoner  of  war. 

"There  are  also  supplementary  allowances  for  pay  for 
peculiar  circumstances ;  as  for  length  of  service,  for  travel- 
ing allowances,  for  residence  in  Paris,  for  professors  and 
instructors  in  the  schools,  for  recruiting  depots,  for  table- 
money  to  certain  commanders  and  others,  commutation  for 
quarters,  forage,  -furniture,  subsistence,  payment  for  horses 
and  property  lost,  etc. 

"  The  soldiers  receive  only  a  small  quantity  of  the  pay  for 
pocket-money  (centimes  de  poclie) ;  the  expenditure  of  the 
remainder  is  regulated  by  the  regimental  council  of  admin- 
istration, for  their  subsistence,  clothing,  repairs  of  arms,  and 
equipments,  etc.  In  each  regiment  a  captain  performs  the 
duties  of  paymaster,  and  another  those  of  clothing  officer."" 

In  the  Austrian  Service  the  internal  administration 
of  a  regiment  is  conducted  by  the  colonel,  assisted  by  a 
captain  and  eight  quartermaster-sergeants.  This  captain 


SUPPLY   OF  ARMIES.  27 

has  charge  of  the  muster-rolls,  and  all  accounts  and  requi- 
sitions and  records  of  the  regiment.  He  receives  from  the 
commanders  of  companies  the  requisitions  for  all  kinds  of 
supplies,  and  forwards  them  to  the  neighboring  depots  of 
supplies,  where  the  requisitions  are  filled.  He  then  delivers 
to  each  captain  whatever  is  intended  for  his  company,  and 
that  officer  distributes  the  same  to  the  men,  and  thus 
becomes  responsible  for  the  individual  payments. 

In  the  Prussian  Service  certain  officials  styled  Intend- 
ants  do  the  purchasing  and  the  issuing  of  supplies,  and 
disburse  the  funds  to  battalions  and  companies.  They  are 
delivered  to  the  company  officers  and  sergeants,  who  dis- 
tribute them  to  the  men.  Materials  for  clothing  are  given 
to  the  men,  who  make  up  their  own  clothing.  Bread  is 
the  only  ration  which  is  issued  in  kind ;  other  provisions 
are  purchased  out  of  the  pay  or  money  allowance.  This 
portion  of  the  funds  is  administered  by  a  company  board 
composed  of  an  officer,  a  non-commissioned  officer,  and  a 
private,  who  are  selected  by  the  company. 

The  men  are  paid  off  every  ten  days,  the  funds  being 
received  by  the  paymaster,  —  who  is  a  civil  officer,  —  and 
turned  over  to  the  captain,  in  whose  presence  they  are  paid 
out  to  the  men  by  the  orderly  sergeant.  The  regimental 
commander  inquires  of  the  men  upon  parade  whether  they 
have  received  their  dues ;  and  the  same  question  is  asked  by 
the  general  upon  reviews  and  inspections.  Each  soldier  has 
a  little  account-book,  in  which  is  kept  his  account. 

In  the  Russian  Service  the  supply  service  is  organized 
into  various  bureaus ;  such  as  the  Subsistence  Bureau,  the 
Clothing  Bureau,  etc. 


28  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

Subsistence  Department.  —  In  the  United  States  ser- 
vice, in  addition  to  the  Pay  Department,  there  are  the 
Subsistence  Department,  the  Quartermaster's  Department, 
and  the  Ordnance  Department,  each  of  which  is  presided 
over  by  a  brigadier-general  stationed  at  Washington  City. 

The  subsistence  officers,  who  are  styled  commissaries  of 
subsistence  and  assistant  commissaries,  purchase  and  dis- 
tribute to  the  troops  the  provisions  or  rations  in  kind. 
To  each  regiment  there  is  a  regimental  quartermaster, 
who  also  acts  as  assistant  commissary  of  subsistence ;  and 
at  posts  where  there  is  less  than  a  regiment,  a  lieutenant 
who  belongs  to  the  command  also  acts  in  this  capacity,  over 
and  above  his  ordinary  duties. 

These  officers  are  in  charge  of  the  depot  of  subsistence 
stores,  and  issue  the  same  upon  proper  requisitions  by  the 
captains  of  companies.  And  they  are  assisted  each  by  a 
commissary-sergeant,  and  the  rations  are  delivered  to  the 
orderly  sergeants  of  companies,  who  distribute  them  to  the 
men. 

The  principal  ingredients  in  the  ration  of  the  United 
States  army  are  eighteen  ounces  of  flour,  or  one  pound  and 
a  quarter  of  corn  meal,  or  twelve  ounces  of  hard  bread; 
three  quarters  of  a  pound  of  pork  or  bacon,  or  in  lieu 
thereof  one  pound  and  a  quarter  of  fresh  beef.  Besides 
these,  to  every  hundred  rations  are  allowed  eight  quarts  of 
pease  or  beans,  or  in  lieu  thereof  ten  pounds  of  rice ;  six 
pounds  of  coffee ;  twelve  pounds  of  sugar ;  four  quarts  of 
vinegar ;  one  pound  and  a  quarter  of  adamantine  can- 
dles; four  pounds  of  soap;  and  two  pounds  of  salt. 


SUPPLY  OF  ARMIES.  29 

* 

.On  a  campaign,  on  marches,  or  on  board  of  transports, 
the  ration  of  hard-bread  is  one  pound. 

The  above  is  a  sufficiency  of  substantial  and  wholesome 
food;  in  fact,  a  generous  provision.  In  addition  to  such 
parts  of  the  ordinary  ration  as  may  be  used  in  hospital, 
certain  delicacies  are  allowed  to  the  sick  upon  the  requisi- 
tion of  the  surgeon. 

The  Russian  Ration  consists  of  two  pounds  and  three 
quarters  of  bread,  half  a  pound  of  fresh  meat,  salt,  oat- 
meal, cabbage,  and  some  brandy.  Of  this,  the  bread,  the 
brandy,  and  one  fourth  of  a  pound  of  meat  is  furnished  by 
the  government,  and  the  residue  is  bought  from  the  artel, 
or  company  mess  fund.  This  fund  is  created  by  a  certain 
amount  taken  or  stopped  from  the  pay  of  the  men,  —  from 
the  wages  of  the  men  when  doing  extra  duty,  or  when 
working  for  persons  in  civil  life.  The  authorities  encour- 
age these  labors,  and  the  whole  proceeds  are  turned  into 
the  artel. 

The  Eussian  soldiers  eat  three  times  a  day.  Breakfast  is 
made  of  bread  and  salt  and  a  little  brandy ;  at  one  o'clock 
they  dine  on  bread,  and  soup  of  meat,  with  cabbages  inter- 
mixed; the  supper,  which  takes  place  at  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  consists  of  the  same  bill  of  fare  as  the  din- 
ner, with  the  addition  of  oatmeal  porridge. 

The  bread,  which  is  coarse  and  brown,  is  sour.  The 
soup  also  is  sour;  but  this  ration  is  said  to  be  healthful. 
Each  man  has  a  wooden  spoon,  and  every  mess  of  six  men 
a  wooden  bowl  out  of  which  they  eat  in  common. 

The  Austrian  Ration  is  mainly  made  of  bread  and  soup. 


30  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

^ 

Each  man  receives  daily  from  a  pound  and  a  half  to  two 
pounds  of  bread,  and  an  allowance  of  about  ten  cents 
to  buy  meat,  which  is  usually  a  quarter  of  a  pound  in 
amount ;  also  some  vegetables.  In  garrison  the  men  have 
soup  once  a  day,  at  midday ;  and  for  breakfast  and  supper 
they  buy  at  the  sutler's  a  piece  of  bread  and  a  small  glass 
of  brandy. 

The  French  Ration  was  during  the  Crimean  war,  ac- 
cording to  General  McClellan,  as  follows  :  "  One  pound 
ten  and  a  quarter  ounces  of  bread,  or  one  pound  three 
and  a  quarter  ounces  of  biscuit ;  one  and  five  hundredths 
ounces  of  rice  or  beans ;  two  and  one  tenth  ounces  of  the 
Chollet  prepared  vegetables ;  eight  ounces  and  three  quar- 
ters of  fresh  meat  or  salt  beef,  or  seven  ounces  of  salt 
pork;  forty-four  hundredths  of  a  pint  of  wine,  or  eleven 
hundredths  of  a  pint  of  brandy/'' 

Sometimes  sugar  and  coffee  are  issued.  Each  mess  of 
five  men  in  the  cavalry  had  their  cooking  utensils,  which 
were  carried  strapped  to  their  saddles.  These  utensils 
were  the  marmite,  or  camp-kettle;  the  bidon,  a  pan  for 
bringing  water;  the  frying-pan,  and  the  gamelle  or  cup. 

The  Prussian  Kation,  when  the  men  are  in  garrison,  is 
one  pound  and  a  half  of  black  rye-bread,  which  is  issued 
every  four  days;  and  it  must  have  been  baked  at  least 
twenty-four  hours  before  issue.  To  this  is  added  a  small 
money  allowance  with  which  the  remainder  of  the  food  is 
purchased  by  a  commission  of  officers  and  non-commis- 
sioned officers.  When  the  troops  are  on  a  campaign,  the 
ration  at  its  maximum  consists  of  half  a  pound  of  meat ; 


SUPPLY  OP  ARMIES. 


31 


two  pounds  of  bread  or  one  pound  of  biscuit ;  one  sixth 
of  a  pound  of  rice,,  or  quarter  of  a  pound  of  peeled  barley, 
or  half  a  pound  of  beans  or  pease,  or  one  pound  and  a  quar- 
ter of  potatoes,  with  half  a  pint  of  brandy. 

Supply  of  Clothing  and  Equipage.  —  In  the  United 
States  service  the  clothing  is  made  up  complete  before 
issue,  and  is  generally  purchased  from  contractors.  As 
a  general  rule  the  clothing  is  of  excellent  materials, 
being  subjected  to  a  rigid  scrutiny  before  being  accepted ; 
but  in  time  of  war,  when  all  the  peace  regulations  are 
relaxed,  and  when  the  supplies  must  be  upon  an  enormous 
scale,  the  materials  are  often  of  a  very  inferior  quality, 
and  the  dishonest  and  swindling  contractor  has  an  oppor- 
tunity of  growing  rich  upon  his  fraudulent  gains.  The 
public  and  general  recognition  of  this  truth  is  evinced 
by  the  popular  epithet,  "  shoddy  rich/'  "  shoddy*  aristoc- 
racy," etc. 

The  allowance  of  clothing  for  five  years,  the  term  of 
enlistment,  is  seven  caps,  two  pompons,  two  eagles  and 
rings,  five  pompon-covers,  eight  coats,  thirteen  pairs  of 
trousers,  fifteen  flannel  shirts,  eleven  pairs  of  drawers, 
twenty  pairs  bootees,  twenty  pairs  stockings,  two  leather 
stocks,  one  overcoat,  one  stable  frock  for  cavalry,  five 
fatigue  overalls  for  engineer  and  ordnance  soldiers,  and 
two  blankets. 

This  allowance  is  found  to  be  more  than  sufficient 
for  the  neat,  thrifty,  and  economical;  and  as  all  are 
required  to  be  well  and  neatly  clad,  all  surplus  articles 
issued  beyond  the  above  allowance  are  charged  to  those 


MILITARY  LESSONS. 

men  who  overdraw,,  and  the  amount  is  deducted  from 
their  pay. 

One  sash  is  allowed  to  each  company  for  the  first  or 
orderly  sergeant,  and  one  knapsack  with  straps,  haversack, 
and  canteen  to  each  enlisted  man. 

Commissioned  officers  purchase  their  own  clothing  from 
their  own  purses. 

Besides  clothing  for  the  men,  there  is  an  allowance  of 
camp  and  garrison  equipage  for  the  troops  as  follows  :  — 

Tents  while  in  the  field,  — 

For  a  general  officer 3 

"   "  staff  officer  above  rank  of  captain  and  for  field  officer  2 

"  other  staff  officers  and  captains 1 

"  subalterns  of  a  company,  to  each  two ....  1 

"  15  foot  or  13  mounted  men 1 

and  to  the  latter  two  spades,  two  axes,  two  pickaxes,  two 
camp-kettles,  five  iness-pans,  and  two  hatchets.  A  proper 
allowance  of  axes  and  hatchets  is  also  made  to  the  officers^ 
tents. 

Bed-sacks  are  furnished  to  the  troops  in  garrison. 
Flags,  colors,  standards,  guidons,  drams,  fifes,  bugles,  and 
trumpets  are  also  issued.  Forage,  fuel,  and  quarters  are 
supplied  to  the  troops  in  garrison,  —  forage  in  the  field 
sometimes. 

All  of  the  above  supplies  are  furnished  by  the  Quarter- 
master's Department,  which  does  the  bulk  of  the  disburse- 
ments for  the  army ;  it  being  charged  with  all  the  trans- 
portation of  the  service,  the  purchase  of  animals,  the 
erection  of  quarters,  barracks,  hospitals,  etc. 


SUPPLY   OF  ARMIES.  33 

Medical  Supplies  are  furnished  by  certain  officers  of 
the  Medical  Department,  called  medical  purveyors,  upon 
the  orders  of  the  Surgeon- General,  who  is  stationed  at 
Washington  City.  These  supplies  are  medicines  and  drugs, 
dressing,  bandages,  hospital  furniture,  surgical  instruments, 
etc. 

The  Ordnance  Department  has  charge  of  the  arsenals  and 
armories,  and  furnishes  all  ordnance  and  ordnance  stores  for 
the  military  service,  and,  to  some  extent,  to  the  militia  of 
the  several  States.  The  officers  of  this  department  on 
campaigns  frequently  have  command  of  siege  and  mortar 
batteries. 

The  general  term  "  ordnance  and  ordnance  stores  "  com- 
prehends all  cannon,  artillery-carriages,  and  equipments; 
all  apparatus  and  machines  for  the  service  and  manceuvers 
of  artillery ;  all  small  arms,  accouterments  and  horse-equip- 
ment, all  ammunition,  and  all  tools  and  materials  for  the 
ordnance  service. 

The  commander  of  every  company  or  detachment  is 
responsible  to  the  government  for  all  the  arms,  equipments, 
and  ammunition  issued  to  his  men. 

The  clothing  of  the  FrencJi  army  is  so  nearly  like  that 
of  the  United  States,  that  it  is  needless  to  say  anything  of 
it  here. 

That  of  the  Austrian  service  is  well  made  and  of  excel- 
lent material.  It  is  issued  to  the  squadron  captains,  either 
made  up  without  being  trimmed,  or  merely  in  the  shape  of 
raw  material,  according  to  their  option.  The  overcoat  for 
all  the  cavalry  is  of  thick  white  cloth,  with  sleeves  and  a 
2*  c 


34  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

long  cape;  it  is  made  very  long  and  loose.  From  this 
same  white  cloth  the  coats  of  the  infantry  is  made.  It  is 
cleaned  by  washing  and  pipe-clay,  and  is  in  favor  with  the 
troops.  They  have  no  tents,  nor  do  they  carry  any  blankets 
while  in  the  field. 

The  clothing  of  the  Prussians  is  similar,  except  the 
color ;  they  wear  frock-coats,  of  dark  blue  generally. 
The  distinctions  of  rank,  army  corps,  regiment,  etc.,  are 
found  on  the  cuffs  and  collars.  Each  soldier  has  in  his 
knapsack  one  pair  of  cloth  pants,  one  overcoat,  one  forage- 
cap, one  pair  of  shoes,  one  pair  of  extra  soles,  one  shirt,  one 
pair  of  drawers,  brushes,  shaving-materials,  and  twenty 
rounds  of  cartridges;  the  weight  of  the  whole  is  about 
twenty  pounds ;  and  the  entire  load  of  the  soldier,  includ- 
ing arms,  accouterments,  ammunition,  etc.,  is  about  sixty 
pounds. 

It  is  needless  to  dwell  upon  the  supply  of  armies,  for  the 
methods  of  procuring,  distributing,  and  repairing  the  various 
kinds  of  supplies  needed  by  an  army  will  be  varied  by  the 
circumstances  of  the  country  and  times.  It  is  a  matter  of 
prime  importance,  however,  to  every  nation,  and  affords  a 
field  for  the  exercise  of  a  faithful  economy,  administrative 
ability,  and  business  tact. 


CHAPTER    III. 

MOVING  OF  ARMIES. 

AN  army  being  organized,  well  equipped,  and  supplied, 
and  a  proper  proportion  of  the  various  kinds  of  staff 
officers  and  staff  troops  assigned  to  it,  and  it  being  supposed 
that  it  has  been  thoroughly  taught  in  the  department  of 
tactics,  it  may  be  considered  ready  to  move  into  the  field. 

An  army  may  be  transported  by  vessels  at  sea,  or  by 
boats  upon  rivers ;  it  may  be  transported  by  railways  on 
land,  or  finally  it  may  march.  The  last  is,  of  course,  the 
most  usual  method.  When  the  march  is  to  be  made  in  our 
own  or  in  a  friendly  country^  the  case  is  quite  different 
from  a  march  in  the  vicinity  of  the  enemy ;  the  numerous 
precautions  to  be  taken  in  the  latter  case  not  being  neces- 
sary in  the  former.  The  troops  are  sent  forward  in  smaller 
detachments  and  at  greater  intervals ;  they  may  also  be  sent 
by  different  routes,  which  need  not  be  very  near  to  each 
other,  the  governing  considerations  being  comfort  and  econ- 
omy. Singje  regiments  would  be  convenient  bodies  to  send 
forward  at  a  time. 

A  small  advanced-guard  should  be  sent  ahead,  sufficient 
to  remove  obstacles  to  the  march  of  the  main  body,  to  make 
arrangements  for  crossing  rivers,  to  select  camping-places, 


36  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

and  to  make  other  needful  arrangements.  A  rear- guard 
should  follow  at  a  suitable  interval  of  time  to  pick  up 
stragglers. 

The  men  are  allowed  to  take  the  route  step  and  to  inarch 
at  ease,  carrying  their  pieces  (which  are  not  loaded)  at  will, 
but  generally  at  the  slope.  They  advance  along  the  roads 
in  columns  of  platoons,  or  with  a  smaller  front,  as  by  sections 
or  by  fours,  according  to  the  width  of  the  road.  When 
passengers  are  met  on  the  road,  the  troops  must  leave  suf- 
ficient space  for  their  passage.  On  good  roads  the  troops 
should  make  at  least  two  and  a  half  miles  per  hour.  The 
officers  must  remain  at  their  posts  during  the  march,  and 
maintain  general  good  order,  without,  however,  requiring 
silence  or  exacting  any  observance  that  would  be  fatiguing 
to  the  men.  After  marching  an  hour,  a  halt  of  ten  minutes 
should  be  made,  and  another  of  one  or  two  hours  midway 
of  the  march. 

The  spots  where  halts  are  made  should  never  be  in  towns 
or  villages,  but  in  the  vicinity  of  water;  and  the  ground 
should  be  dry,  so  that  the  men  can  lie  down,  because  in  this 
way  they  will  rest  more*  rapidly  and  completely  than  in  any 
other  posture,  and  they  will  thereby  preserve  their  strength. 
When  the  halt  is  for  more  than  ten  minutes,  they  should 
stack  arms  and  take  off  their  knapsacks  and  accouterments, , 
hanging  them  on  the  stacks. 

Throughout  the  march  the  officers  should  take  advantage 
of  every  opportunity  which  presents  itself  to  rest  their  men 
and  allow  them  to  remove  the  weights  which  they  may  be 
carrying,  resuming  them  only  when  ready  to  set  out  again. 


MOVING   OF  ARMIES.     '  37 

But  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  enemy  many  precautions 
will  be  necessary.  Larger  bodies  will  march  together  and 
on  different  roads  only  when  they  are  near  to  each  other 
and  no  barrier  intervenes  which  would  prevent  one  body  of 
troops  from  coming  promptly  to  the  relief  of  another. 
They  must  also  have  adequate  advanced-guards  and  rear- 
guards, with  patrols  at  considerable  distances  from  these,  and 
also  from  the  flanks  of  the  columns  to  prevent  ambuscades, 
to  find  the  enemy  at  sufficient  distances  to  enable  the  gen- 
eral commanding  to  make  dispositions  either  to  move  on  to 
the  attack  or  pursuit,  or  to  receive  the  enemy's  attack. 

When  there  is  a  necessity  for  all  or  many  of  the  troops 
to  move  by  the  same  road,  the  different  regiments  and 
brigades  should  be  separated  by  intervals  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent crowding  and  the  consequent  loss  of  time.  The  nature 
of  the  locality  must  regulate  the  size  of  the  intervals;  gen- 
erally they  should  be  about  seventy-five  yards  between  regi- 
ments, and  one  hundred  yards  between  brigades;  on  the 
other  hand,  the  intervals  must  never  be  so  great  as  to  prevent 
a  prompt  concentration  of  the  command  before  an  enemy 
could  make  much  headway  in  an  attack.  Artillery  marches 
by  sections  or  by  piece,  and  cavalry  by  twos  or  by  fours. 
The  part  of  the  rear-guard,  on  a  retreat,  which  is  nearest  to 
the  enemy,  should  march  by  the  rear-rank,  so  that  they  can 
promptly  face  to  the  rear  and  deliver  their  fire. 

It  has  been  remarked  above  that  when  marching  near 
the  enemy,  advanced-guards,  rear-guards,  and  flank-guards 
should  be  thrown  out  to  prevent  being  surprised  by  sud- 
den attacks.  The  advanced-guard  should,  as  a  general 


38  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

rule,  be  from  one  fifth  to  one  fourth  of  the  whole  force. 
Its  duty  is  to  discover  the  enemy  and  to  send  in  infor- 
mation of  his  strength,  kind  of  troops,  locality,  and  appar- 
ent design.  After  once  discovering  the  enemy,  they  mast 
never  lose  sight  of  him  in  case  he  retires;  on  the  other 
hand,  should  he  approach,  they  must  hold  him  in  check 
at  least  long  enough  for  the  main  body  to  prepare  to  re- 
ceive him.  They  should  examine  the  nature  of  the  country 
in  advance  of  the  main  body,  removing  obstacles  and  send- 
ing back  all  information  that  may  be  useful. 

The  advanced-guard  should  be  sufficiently  far  ahead  to 
allow  time  to  the  main  body  to  form  before  the  enemy 
can  come  upon  them.  Accordingly,  if  the  advanced-guard 
is  pretty  strong  and  independent,  it  can  afford  to  go  farther 
ahead  than  a  weaker  one  could  do,  even  up  to  the  point  of 
putting  half  a  day  between  itself  and  the  troops  following. 
In  smaller  bodies  which  do  not  require  much  time  for 
formation,  the  advanced-guard  should  not  separate  itself 
more  than  two  or  three  miles. 

The  advanced- guard  should  have  an  advanced-guard  of 
its  own  of  two  companies,  one  company,  or  a  platoon,  ac- 
cording to  strength.  During  the  late  war  between  Prussia 
and  Prance  the  armies  of  the  latter  seem  to  have  been  sin- 
gularly deficient  in  good  guards  for  the  head,  rear,  and 
flanks  of  their  columns.  Outpost  service  generally  seems 
to  have  been  ill-performed  or  totally  neglected.  At  the 
retreat  across  the  Moselle,  the  French  army  while  en 
cheval,  or  astride  the  river  (i.  e.  part  on  one  bank  and 
part  on  the  other)  were  surprised  and  struck,  not  by  the 


MOVING   OF  ARMIES.  39 

Prussian  advanced-guard,  but  by  a  large  body  of  the  main 
army ! 

The  advanced  and  flank  detachments  move  at  a  distance 
of  eight  hundred  or  one  thousand  yards  from  the  main 
advanced-guard,  and  these  detachments  send  out  patrols 
who  march  five  hundred  to  one  thousand  yards  from  the 
heads  and  flanks  of  their  detachments. 

They  must  never  lose  sight  of  each  other,  and  thus  form 
a  complete  chain  around  the  head  and  flanks  of  the  ad- 
vanced-guard. 

In  a  retreat  the  advanced- guard  has  but  a  subordinate 
part  to  play,  the  main  and  important  thing  being  the  Rear- 
Guard.  They  have  to  preserve  order,  to  remove  obstacles, 
and  to  prevent  straggling  and  running  away,  etc. 

But  to  a  rear-guard  on  a  retreat  belong  some  of  the 
most  difficult  as  well  as  most  important  duties  ever  devolv- 
ing upon  troops.  They  must  do  everything  to  fend  off  the 
enemy  from  the  main  body,  and  allow  it  to  continue  its 
retreat  quietly  and  unmolested.  To  this  end  they  must 
destroy  bridges,  ruin  fords,  fell  trees,  and  seize  every  favor- 
able spot  on  the  route  to  inflict  loss  upon  the  pursuers. 
It  should  be  stronger  than  an  advanced-guard  when  march- 
ing towards  the  enemy,  because,  if  this  body  should  be 
beaten  and  driven  in,  it  can  fall  back  upon  the  main  body, 
or  else  the  main  body  can  advance  to  its  relief;  but  it 
would  never  do  to  allow  the  rear- guard  of  a  retreating 
force  to  be  broken  and  driven  in  confusion  upon  the  main 
body ;  it  might,  and  probably  would,  involve  the  rout  of 
the  whole  army. 


40  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

History  is  full  of  examples  of  the  conduct  of  rear- 
guards; but  'perhaps  the  most  celebrated  and  interesting 
was  that  of  the  grand  army  commanded  by  Marshal  Ney 
on  its  retreat  out  of  Eussia. 

If  the  enemy  pushes  us  vigorously  and  in  force,  our 
rear-guard  should  be  strengthened  even  to  one  third  the 
whole  force,  so  as  to  allow  a  greater  interval  between  it  and 
the  main  body.  When  the  army  retreats  in  several  col- 
umns, the  different  rear-guards  should  keep  up  a  constant 
communication  with  each  other,  and  keep  on  a  general  line 
perpendicular  to  the  direction  of  the  march,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent the  enemy  penetrating  the  gap  made  by  the  one  which 
should  have  moved  farther  on,  and  thereby  taking  some  of 
the  other  columns  in  flank.  With  both  advanced  and  rear 
guards  there  should  be  a  proper  allowance  of  pioneers  or 
mounted  engineer  troops,  to  remove  or  place  obstacles,  etc. 

If  defiles  are  to  be  passed  in  retreat,  sufficient  time  and 
space  must  be  allowed  to  the  main  body  to  get  through 
safely  and  without  precipitation. 

Flank-Guards.  —  A  flank  march  is  a  critical,  dangerous 
operation  in  presence  of  a  vigilant  enemy;  and  yet  the 
advantages  are  generally  so  great  when  it  is  successfully 
accomplished,  that  it  is  very  tempting.  There  should  be 
thrown  out  a  strong  flank-guard  on  the  side  of  the  enemy, 
and  they  should  have  flank  patrollers  farther  on,  who  could 
give  timely  warning  of  his  approach  to  the  flank-guard, 
which  should  immediately  make  effort  to  check  and  delay 
him  until  the  main  force  can  form  in  order  of  battle.  If, 
at  this  moment,  we  have  left  one  communication  and  have 
not  reached  others,  the  situation  is  highly  dangerous. 


MOVING  OF  ARMIES.  41 

The  whole  force  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  be  able  to 
make  the  most  speedy  formation  in  line  of  battle;  and 
there  should  be  parallel  columns  which  could  form  first,  and 
second  lines,  reserves,  etc.  The  particular  corps  which  are 
to  form  these  various  bodies  should  be  designated  before- 
hand, and  made  acquainted  with  the  part  they  are  to  play. 
The  trains,  baggage,  ambulance  corps,  etc.,  should  be,  of 
course,  with  the  column  farthest  from  the  enemy. 

Trains.  —  To  avoid  confusion  and  delay  in  the  march 
of  troops,  arising  from  the  large  number  of  wagons  with 
them,  the  trains  should  be  divided  into  three  classes. 

The  trains  of  the  first  class  which  are  needed  during  the 
march  consist  of  the  ambulances  provided  with  the  means 
of  dressing  wounds ;  they  should  be  accompanied  by  some 
surgeons  and  hospital  attendants.  When  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  enemy,  the  ammunition-wagons  should 
be  in  this  train,  so  that  the  men  may  not  fail  to  have 
plenty  of  ammunition.  If  rivers  are  to  be  crossed,  the 
ponton  train  also  should  accompany  it.  These  trains  of 
the  first  class  follow  immediately  after  the  regiments  or 
organizations  to  which  they  belong. 

Trains  of  the  second  class  consist  of  such  as  are  needed 
by  the  troops  only  when  in  camp.  They  comprise  wagons 
for  ammunition,  money,  papers  and  records,  tools,  bag- 
gage, medicines,  field-forges,  artillery-wagons,  pack  ani- 
mals of  the  field  and  company  officers,  wagons  of  the  office 
of  the  commander-in- chief,  wagons  carrying  provisions  and 
forage  for  immediate  distribution,  and  the  suttlers^  wagons. 
Ammunition-wagons  are  kept  by  themselves,  and  march 


42  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

near  the  troops.  Trains  of  the  second  class  follow  the 
main  body  in  the  interval  between  it  and  the  rear-guard. 
In  a  general  retreat  the  wagons  of  this  class  should  be  sent 
at  least  half  a  day  ahead,  so  as  not  to  impede  the  progress 
of  the  troops. 

Trains  of  the  third  class  are  composed  of  those  for 
which  there  is  no  pressing  necessity.  They  consist  of  the 
commissariat-wagons,  those  of  the  general  hospital,  reserve 
ordnance  stores,  etc.  Trains  of  this  kind  follow  by  them- 
selves under  an  escort. 

To  prevent  delays  from  a  wagon  breaking  down,  large 
trains  should  move  in  sections  of  about  one  hundred  wag- 
ons each,  and  these  sections  should  march  at  a  distance  of 
about  one  third  of  a  mile. 

Of  Halts.  —  The  length  of  a  march  near  the  enemy 
varies  with  circumstances.  Ordinarily  it  will  be  about 
seventeen  miles,  but  if  necessary  it  may  Breach  thirty  miles. 
Small  detachments,  of  course,  move  with  more  celerity 
than  large  ones  or  entire  armies.  Forced  marches  should 
never  be  made  without  some  highly  important  object. 
Small  detachments  of  cavalry  may  march  forty,  fifty,  or 
even  seventy  miles  under  a  great  pressure.  The  ordinary 
rate  of  march  is  about  three  miles  per  hour ;  short  halts  of 
ten  or  fifteen  minutes  should  be  made  every  hour. 

When  a  halt  is  made  for  the  night  or  a  longer  time,  in 
order  to  prevent  being  turned,  detachments  and  pickets 
should  be  sent  out  on  all  the  roads  leading  from  the  flanks. 
During  a  long  halt,  or  one  for  the  night,  the  train  is 
arranged  more  compactly  than  usual ;  a  proper  position  is 


MOVING   OF  ARMIES.  43 

selected  in  which  to  place  all  the  wagons  together,  in  order 
that,  being  less  scattered,  a  better  watch  may  be  kept  upon 
them.  When  danger  is  apprehended  from  the  enemy,  it  is 
best  to  park  the  train  in  column,  because  this  formation 
is  changed  more  rapidly  than  any  other,  and  from  it  it  is 
easier  to  take  the  road  at  the  end  of  the  halt,  or  when  leav- 
ing camp.  An  average  interval  of  eight  yards  in  width  is 
allowed  to  each  wagon  in  this  formation.  The  harness  is 
either  piled  up  behind  each  wagon,  or  is  hung  upon  the 
wheels,  and  the  animals  are  tied  to  the  tongues  or  poles. 
The  distance  apart  of  the  different  rows  of  wagons  is 
twenty  paces. 

Wagons  having  powder  in  them  are  placed  apart,  and  are 
carefully  guarded  against  fire  and  disturbance.  The  escort 
bivouacs  on  the  flanks  or  at  the  head  of  the  train ;  senti- 
nels are  posted.  If  the  teamsters  are  not  to  be  trusted,  or 
desertions  are  apprehended,  a  chain  of  sentinels  should  sur- 
round the  whole  train.  When  an  attack  is  expected,  the 
wagons  should  be  parked  with  the  hind  wheels  outside  and 
the  animals  within  the  enclosure. 

Commander-in-Chief.  —  The  commander-in-chief  who  de- 
signs to  make  a  march  which  will  be  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  enemy  must  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  roads 
and  general  topographical  -features  of  the  district. 

He  must  send  forward  staff  officers,  patrols,  or  scouts,  to 
examine  and  report  to  him  all  the  desired  information; 
but. if  the  enemy  occupies  such  positions  as  to  forbid  this, 
he  must  have  recourse  to  the  best  maps  to  be  procured, 
and  supplement  this  information  by  interrogating  the 
inhabitants  and  deserters. 


44  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

The  Prussians,  when  they  entered  upon  the  late  cam- 
paign in  France,  were  possessed  of  complete  and  detailed 
maps  of  all  the  territory  which  they  expected  to  operate 
in;  and  they  were  never  at  a  loss,  but  seem  in  some 
instances  to  have  been  better  posted  than  the  French  com- 
manders themselves. 

Moreover,  the  commander  must  have  guides  to  pilot  the 
different  columns;  he  should  procure  —  seize  if  necessary 
—  such  men  as,  by  the  nature  of  their  occupations,  are  well 
acquainted  with  the  country,  —  hunters,  mail-riders,  stage- 
.drivers,  collecters  of  revenue,  census-takers,  etc.  These 
guides  must  be  closely  watched,  for  fear  of  treachery ;  they 
should  be  kindly  treated,  and  informed  that,  if  their  service 
is  well  performed,  they  will  be  generously  rewarded,  but 
that,  at  the  first  sign  of  treachery,  they  will  be  shot.  When 
their  service  is  over  they  must  be  sent  back  to  the  rear,  and 
precautions  taken  against  their  going  over  to  the  enemy. 

In  his  orders  for  the  programme  of  operations,  he  must 
avoid  descending  into  particulars  so  minute  as  to  embarrass 
subordinate  commanders,  should  any  event  which  was  unfore- 
seen transpire.  But  those  orders  should  distinctly  specify 
what  troops  and  organizations  are  to  form  certain  columns ; 
who  is  to  command  them ;  what  they  are  to  do ;  by  what 
roads  to  move;  the  time  they  must  arrive  at  designated 
points ;  and  where  he  himself  can  be  found  at  various  des- 
ignated hours.  He  should  send  his  trains  by  routes  that* 
will  not  be  needed  in  case  of  a  check  and  consequent  retreat. 
He  must  provide  a  continuous  communication  betweep  the 
different  columns,  so  that  each  shall  know  of  the  progress  of 


MOVING   OF  ARMIES.  45 

the  others.  In  a  retreat  the  rear-guard,  and  upon  an  advance 
the  advanced-guard,  flankers,  and  all  detachments  near  the 
enemy  will  have  their  pieces  loaded,  but  be  careful  never  to 
fire  without  orders  from  competent  authority.  The  main 
body  do  not  load  until  about  going  into  action. 

During  secret  marches  at  night  no  drum  or  bugle  must 
sound,  all  orders  must  be  given  in  a  low  voice,  and  as  little 
noise  as  possible  of  any  kind  be  made,  while  no  fires  or 
lights  should  be  allowed,  no  one  should  even  light  a  pipe. 
Advanced-guards,  flank  detachments,  and  patrols  should  be 
frequently  relieved  by  fresh  troops,  because  they  become 
fatigued  by  constant  vigilance  and  anxiety. 

Commander  of  the  Advanced-Guard.  —  He  sends  out 
front  and  flank  detachments  as  soon  as  the  march  begins,  as 
was  explained  above.  An  officer  or  a  non-commissioned 
officer  is  placed  in  command  of  each  detachment,  with  full 
instructions  as  to  what  he  is  to  do,  and  -how  to  proceed  in 
the  supposable  cases  likely  to  arise.  The  commander  of 
the  advanced- guard  sees  that  all  these  parties  maintain  con- 
stant communication  with  him  and  with  each  other. 

When  he  receives  deserters  or  takes  prisoners,  he  must 
question  them  minutely  as  to  the  regiments  they  belong  to, 
where  they  are,  the  strength  of  their  guards,  the  number 
and  position  of  the  enemy,  what  corps  and  divisions  are 
near  their  own,  and  by  whom  commanded,  the  number  of 
the  sick  and  wounded,  the  quantity  and  position  of  their 
supplies,  arid  in  general  everything  that  may  be  serviceable. 
But  all  such  information  must  be  received  with  distrust ; 
these  persons  may  deliberately  falsify,  or  they  may  be  so 


46  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

ignorant  that  their  information  may  be  worthless.  Some- 
times it  happens  that  timid  persons  will  answer  in  the  way 
they  suppose  the  questioner's  wishes  run. 

It  is  necessary  frequently  to  repeat  the  same  question 
unexpectedly,,  so  as  to  compare  the  different  answers  and 
the  answers  of  different  individuals  to  the  same  questions. 

Everything  at  all  remarkable  should  be  reported  by  the 
commander  of  the  advanced-guard  to  the  general ;  such  as 
his  arrival  and  departure,  and  the  time  thereof  at  ferries,, 
fords,  villages,  and,  of  course,  any  news  of  the  enemy.  He 
should  be  careful  not  to  send  light  and  improbable  rumors, 
but  investigate  and  verify  in  person  as  far  as  possible  all 
reports  which  he  makes. 

Upon  entering  a  town  or  village,  he  should  have  the 
authorities  and  principal  persons  brought  before  him,  and 
he  should  seize  the  public  documents,  post  and  express 
offices. 

As  a  rule,  he  should  send  an  aid-de-camp  or  intelligent 
officer ;  he  may,  if  desirable,  write  in  pencil,  using  a  cipher, 
if  there  is  fear  of  the  paper  falling  into  the  enemy's  hands. 
These  reports  should  be  clear,  precise,  explicit,  without 
verbosity,  and  should  show  what  is  known  to  be  fact  and 
what  is  upon  hearsay. 

These  and  all  similar  reports  should  be  numbered  in  a 
series,  and  the  date  with  the  hour  accurately  given,  so  that 
the  general  may  not  be  misled  into  believing  that  old 
information  is  new,  because  it  frequently  happens  that  the 
last  report  reaches  its  destination  before  one  that  was 
despatched  previously.  If  a  report  is  very  important,  and 


MOVING   OF  ARMIES.  47 

there  is  fear  that  the  enemy  may  get  it,  or  of  delay  from 
any  cause  whatever,  another  copy  ought  to  be  despatched 
after  the  lapse  of  a  suitable  time. 

When  the  enemy  is  encountered,  instant  information  of 
the  fact  is  sent  to  the  general ;  meanwhile  the  commander 
of  the  advanced-guard  makes  those  dispositions  called  for 
by  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  If  strong  enough,,  he 
should  advance  and  fall  upon  the  enemy;  but  if  this  is 
not  deemed  expedient,  he  may  take  up  a  position  where  he 
can  hold  the  enemy  in  check  until  the  arrival  of  the  main 
body ;  or  if  he  cannot  do  this,  to  avoid  being  cut  off,  he 
must  fall  back  towards  the  main  body,  delaying  the  enemy 
by  all  such  means  as  have  been  heretofore  indicated,  and  by 
such  others  as  may  be  suggested  by  the  fertility  of  his  own 
genius,  the  time,  and  circumstances  of  the  case.  He  must 
in  no  case  allow  the  main  body  to  be  taken  unawares,  or  in 
the  confusion  of  forming  for  battle. 

The  Selection  of  Camps  for  the  advanced-guard  is  a 
matter  of  high  importance ;  positions  strong  and  not  liable 
to  surprise  must  be  selected,  if  such  are  to  be  had.  Cities 
and  villages  are  not  good  for  such  a  purpose ;  the  attention 
of  the  men  and  officers  may  be  distracted  from  their  duties, 
and  intoxication  may  spread  among  the  men;  besides,  so 
good  a  watch  cannot  be  kept  up,  and  all  that  transpires  in 
the  command  may  be  reported  to  the  enemy,  together  with 
its  strength,  composition,  and  designs.  There  may  be,  how- 
ever, good  reasons  for  occupying  the  place  by  a  detachment, 
which' is  sometimes  done. 

Should  the  advanced-guard  camp  near  a  defile,  its  open- 


48  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

ings  or  debouches  should  be  held ;  and  it  may  be  well  in 
some  cases  to  advance  through  the  defile  and  camp  at  its 
farther  opening.  Whatever  has  been  here  said  applies 
equally  to  a  flank -guard  thrown  out  on  a  march  to  the 
flank.  It  may  be  well  to  remark,  parenthetically,  that  one 
of  the  greatest  dangers  of  a  flank  march  arises  from  the 
fact  that  we  of  necessity  abandon  our  lines  of  communica- 
tion with  the  rear ;  all  secrecy  and  diligence  must  therefore 
be  used  to  gain  another  before  the  enemy  can  strike  us. 
On  a  retreat,  the  commander  of  the  advanced-guard  is 
charged  with  preparing  a  good  line  of  march  for  the  main 
body,  removing  all  obstacles,  preparing  the  banks  of 
streams,  repairing  or  making  bridges,  and  collecting  the 
needed  supplies  for  the  use  of  the  army. 

Commander  of  the  Rear-Guard  in  Retreat.  —  His  duties, 
as  before  intimated,  are  among  the  most  arduous  and 
most  responsible  which  a  military  man  is  ever  called  on 
to  perform.  He  will  be  compelled  to  fight,  it  may  be 
almost  perpetually,  and  always  with  the  great  moral  disad- 
vantage of  a  retreat ;  he  fights,  not  for  victory,  but  for  safety. 
Upon  him  devolves  the  task  of  sustaining  the  courage  and 
spirits  of  the  army,  of  preventing  loss  of  men  and  materials 
left  behind,  of  supplying  himself  and  the  commanding  gen- 
eral with  thorough  current  information  of  the  enemy  and 
his  movements.  He  must  throw  out  flankers,  and  scour 
the  neighborhood  of  his  flanks. 

It  may  be  that  the  enemy  will  hasten  forward  troops  on 
the  flanks,  either  with  the  view  of  turning  the  rear-guard, 
and  getting  between  it  and  the  main  body,  to  cut  it  off,  or 


MOVING   OF  ARMIES.  49 

else  to  harass  the  rear-guard  by  urging  it,  from  the  fear  of 
such  a  catastrophe,  into  a  rapid  and  confused  march. 
Wherever  there  are  roads  affording  facilities  for  such  a 
movement,  they  should  be  thoroughly  explored,  and,  if 
needful,  held  in  strength  sufficient  to  thwart  or  de- 
lay it. 

If  in  sight  of  the  enemy,  and  fighting,  he  should  not  wear 
out  his  command  by  marching  or  fighting  the  whole  of  it 
at  once;  but  rather  he  should  hold  positions  with  part 
of  it,  while  the  remainder  fall  back  to  other  positions,  and 
when  they  have  been  occupied,  that  nearest  the  enemy  may 
be  abandoned,  and  so  on.  No  obstinate  contests  should  be 
engaged  in  for  the  defence  of  such  positions,  nor  any  useless 
fighting  at  any  time ;  he  must  economize  his  command,  and 
remember  that  his  only  object  is  to  protect  the  retreat  of 
the  main  body. 

Every  available  means  of  retarding  the  enemy  must  be 
utilized,  such  as  burning  and  blowing  up  bridges,  destroy- 
ing fords,  filling  up  ravines  with  large  stones  tumbled  down 
from  the  cliffs  above,  felling  trees,  etc.  If  a  road  in  a 
ravine  is  cut  out  of  the  side  of  a  cliff,  by  digging  a  pit  in  the 
road  and  putting  some  powder  in  it,  a  portion  of  the  road 
may  be  blown  away,  and  the  enemy  detained  a  long  time. 

Duties  of  the  Commanders  of  Flank,  Advanced,  and 
Rear  Detachments.  —  It  will  be  remembered  that  it  was 
mentioned  that  the  rear,  flank,  and  advanced-guards  threw 
out  detachments  to  march  at  a  suitable  distance  from  them ; 
and  that  these  minor  detachments,  in  their  turn,  sent  out 
squads  of  fifteen  to  thirty  men,  called  patrols.  In  the  clay- 


50  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

time,  or  on  clear  nights,  they  precede  their  detachments, 
and,  forming  a  chain  around  the  heads  and  flanks  of 
the  advanced-guards,  sweep  over  and  examine  the  whole 
country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  line  of  march.  In  an  open 
country  they  can  afford  to  spread  out  to  a  greater  extent 
than  when  the  case  is  different.  Cloudy  and  thick  weather 
and  obscure  nights  will  of  course  diminish  their  intervals. 
The  object  of  their  being  sent  out,  which  is  to  explore 
the  country,  will  regulate  their  number  and  frequency. 
They  must  at  all  times  keep  in  sight  of,  and  in  commu- 
nication with,  each  other.  If  the  night  should  be  very 
dark  indeed,  the  patrollers  could  not  operate,  and  therefore 
should  not  be  sent  out. 

When  patrollers  are  sent  out,  the  commanders  of  detach- 
ments should  instruct  them  in  their  duties  and  what  places 
to  examine  particularly.  Especially  should  defiles,  woods, 
and  villages  be  examined  by  the  patrols  before  the  detach- 
ments venture  into  them;  otherwise  they  might  be  sur- 
prised and  cut  off.  Every  person  met  on  the  road  should 
be  closely  interrogated  as  to  himself,  and  as  to  what  he 
may  know  of  the  enemy.  It  will  sometimes  be  well  to 
detain  him  awhile,  lest  he  should  go  to  the  enemy. 

Upon  drawing  near  a  town  or  village,  one  or  more  of 
the  inhabitants  should  be  seized  and  questioned  about  the 
enemy;  whether  he  is  concealed  in  the  town  or  its  neigh- 
borhood, or  whether  he  has  been  there  lately,  and  when  and 
where  he  went,  etc.  The  persons  who  have  been  seized 
should  be  detained  until  the  detachment  has  entirely  cleared 
the  village.  The  commanders  of  these  detachments  ought 


MOVING   OF  ARMIES.  51 

never  to  send  in  any  important  report  received  from  the 
patrols  until  they  have  verified  it  in  person. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  late  campaign  in  France,  the 
Prussians  debouched  in  force  from  a  wood  during  a  battle, 
and  caused  the  defeat  of  McMahon's  army. 

The  officer,  whose  duty  it  was  to  have  caused  that 
wood  to  be  searched,  neglected  it ;  and,  as  we  were  in- 
formed by  the  telegraph,  overwhelmed  with  chagrin  and 
self-condemnation,  he  dismounted,  shot  his  horse,  and  com- 
mitted suicide  by  advancing  steadily  and  alone  upon  the 
enemy,  till  he  fell,  pierced  by  a  bullet. 

The  detachments  must  keep  up  a  constant  communication 
with  each  other  and  with  the  guards  to  which  they  belong ; 
they  should  beware  of  getting  separated  for  a  long  time 
from  their  guards  by  impassable  obstacles,  such  as  marshes, 
lakes,  and  woods.  But  when  the  separation  would  not  be 
too  long,  it  is  well  for  them  tp  march  on  the  outer  side 
of  these  obstacles,  so  as  to  examine  the  country  be- 
yond. 

When  the  enemy  is  found  in  force,  or  makes  an  attack, 
the  commanders  of  these  detachments  should  decline  com- 
bat, and  should  retreat,  while  skirmishing,  upon  their 
respective  guards.  Of  course  they  should  do  whatever  can 
be  consistently  done  to  delay  the  enemy,  and  to  gain  as 
much  time  as  possible. 

Should  the  enemy  stand  fast,  they  remain  in  his  presence, 
and  if  he  retires  they  pursue,  keeping  him  in  sight. 

Duties  of  Patrols  during  a  March.  —  Patrols,  are  of  dif- 
ferent strength;  their  business  is  to  examine  the  country 


52  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

near  the  line  of  march,,  and  to  discover  the  enemy  so  early 
as  to  prevent  a  surprise.  Patrols  ought  to  have  at  least  ten 
or  fifteen  men  in  them.  The  men  must  stretch  out  as  much 
as  the  nature  of  the  ground  will  permit,  both  to  examine  as 
great  an  extent  of  ground  as  possible,  and  to  prevent  all 
being  captured  at  once.  Some  should  always  be  able  to 
escape  and  to  take  in  information. 

The  men  in  front,  on  the  flanks,  and  in  the  rear  of 
patrols  are  called  Patrollers.  At  night  they  must  close 
in  on  their  respective  detachments,  but  still  keep  up  a 
chain,  for  fear  the  enemy  should  slip  through  in  the  dark- 
ness. 

When  a  detachment  is  sent  forward  with  orders  to  attack, 
it  should  keep  its  patrols  and  patrollers  closer  in,  to  prevent 
giving  the  enemy  warning  too  long  a  time  before  its  arrival 
at  his  position. 

The  individual  patrollers  jnust  exercise  extreme  vigilance, 
keeping  their  eyes  and  ears  open.  Whatever  they  see  and 
do  not  thoroughly  comprehend,  they  must  visit  and  inspect ; 
and  so  of  sounds,  particularly  at  night ;  such  as  the  giving 
of  commands,  noise  of  wagons,  neighing  of  horses,  tread  of 
numbers  of  men,  etc.  If  these  things  are  not  within  the 
limits  of  their  assigned  inspection,  they  must  inform  a  non- 
commissioned officer,  who  will  take  measures  to  investigate 
the  matter.  The  detachments  and  patrols  ought  then  to 
halt,  making  the  necessary  dispositions  against  surprise. 
Patrols  ascend  every  eminence  on  the  sides  of  the  route,  and 
remain  there  until  relieved,  or  until  the  detachment  has 
passed. 


MOVING  OF  ARMIES.  53 

Particularly  on  entering  ravines  or  denies  with  precipi- 
tous sides  the  summits  of  the  sides  should  be  carefully 
examined  before  the  detachment  enters. 

If  a  report  is  to  be  made  concerning  anything  seen  or 
suspected,  there  must  be  no  trepidation  of  manner  nor 
loudness  of  voice ;  the  communication  should  be  in  a  low, 
calm  tone. 

When  ascending  a  hill,  one  man  should  go  in  front  of 
the  others,  and  steal  up  quietly,  moving  behind  trees, 
stumps,  rocks,  or  any  accidents  of  the  ground,  and  when 
near  the  summit  should  take  off  his  cap  and  cautiously 
peep  over  to  see,  without  being  seen.  If  mounted  he 
should  dismount. 

When,  in  daytime,  it  is  necessary  for  the  advanced-guard 
to  pass  through  a  village,  the  front  patrollers  send  one  of 
their  number  into  the  village,  who  traverses  its  principal 
streets,  asking  for  the  chief  man  of  the  place ;  at  the  same 
time  other  patrollers  ride  along  the  outskirts  of  the  place. 
When  the  magistrate  or  principal  man  of  the  village  has 
teen-  found,  he  is  conducted  to  the  commander  of  the 
advanced-guard^  which  will  by  this  time  have  arrived.  If 
it  is  night-time  the  patrollers  approach  the  first  house,  call 
out  the  owner,  and  carry  him  off  to  the  commander,  as 
above;  afterwards  they  seek  the  principal  man  of  the 
place. 

Precautions  should  be  taken  upon  entering  a  wood ;  the 
skirts  should  be  examined  to  ascertain  whether  the  enemy  is 
not  ambuscading  there,  and  the  roads  leading  through  must 
be  scoured ;  and  while  advancing  through  a  forest,  if  the 


54  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

front  patrollers  come  upon  a  prairie  or  open  space,  they 
must  examine  the  skirts  all  around. 

When  our  patrols  discover  those  of  the  enemy,  or  when 
flags  of  truce  come  in,  the  commander  of  the  patrol  is  im- 
mediately informed  of  the  occurrence.  The  bearer  of  the 
flag  is  blindfolded  and  conducted  to  the  commanding  officer. 
If  straggling  soldiers  of.  the  enemy  are  perceived  they  must 
be  surrounded  and  captured.  When  the  enemy  is  found  in 
force,  a  well-conducted  and  orderly  retreat  is  made  upon 
the  detachment.  It  is  only  when  the  enemy  suddenly 
bursts  upon  the  patrollers  that  firing  should  be  allowed, 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  warning.  At  the  first  shot  the 
detachment  forms  and  the  patrollers  fall  back  upon  it. 

In  reference  to  being  surprised,  —  after  remarking  that 
such  a  thing  should  never  happen  at  all,  —  it  may  be  well 
to  state  that  there  are  scarcely  any  circumstances  which 
would  justify  an  officer  in  the  surrender  of  cavalry ;  a  bold 
and  instantaneous  charge  will  always  enable  the  majority  to 
escape. 

Kegulating  Marches  by  the  Nature  of  the  Ground.  — 
When  near  the  enemy  it  is  usual  to  employ  troops  of 
all  arms  in  the  advanced-guard.  If  we  expect  to  do  any 
fighting  we  want  infantry,  artillery,  and  cavalry,  in  order 
that  the  excellences  of  each  may  be  utilized  as  the  oppor- 
tunity offers.  If  the  country  is  level  and  open  we  use  more 
cavalry  than  when  it  is  rough  and  covered  with  forests ; 
light  cavalry  are  used  for  this  kind  of  duty.  The  army 
advances  in  several  columns  on  different  roads,  the  bulk  of 
the  troops  destined  for  duty  as  advanced-guards  march  on 


MOVING   OF  ARMIES.  55 

one  road,  while  smaller  guards  march  upon  the  others,,  and 
a  mutual  communication  is  kept  up  by  means  of  patrols. 

When  the  advanced-guard  is  composed  of  different  arms, 
its  distance  from  the  main  body  depends  also  on  the  follow- 
ing considerations  :  1st,  its  composition,,  cavalry  advancing 
farther  than  infantry ;  2d,  the  kind  of  country ;  for  if  the 
advanced-guard  is  secure  from  being  turned,  it  may  venture 
farther  ahead ;  3d,  the  object  in  view.  If  the  main  body 
expects  to  stand  on  the  defensive,  the  advance  should  be 
well  ahead,  in  order  to  give  time  for  formation.  But  if 
the  main  body  has  found  a  position  favorable  to  making  a 
stand,  there  is  no  need  of  an  advanced-guard  at  all ;  some 
pickets  and  videttes,  to  give  notice  of  the  enemy's  approach, 
will  be  sufficient.  When  pursuing  the  enemy,  the  main 
body  must  be  close  behind  the  advance.  Generally  the 
distance  of  the  guard  in.  advance  should  be  rather  greater 
than  the  distance  apart  of  the  extreme  columns  of  the  main 
body. 

In  a  mountainous  country  the  patrols  are  infantry,  and 
so,  likewise,  are  the  head  and  the  rear  of  every  column ;  the 
cavalry  and  artillery  marching  in  the  center.  In  moun- 
tainous countries  we  are  most  likely  to  be  attacked,  and  it 
is  here  especially  that  the  enemy  will  desire  to  fall  upon  our 
cavalry,  for  upon  such  ground,  being  unable  to  charge,  it  is 
quite  helpless. 

This  is  pretty  much  the  truth  also  with  regard  to  artillery ; 
hence  infantry  is  the  sole  reliance :  it  must  protect  the  other 
arms. 

To  this  end  infantry  patrols  are  sent  out  as  far  as  practi- 


56  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

cable  to  occupy  the  heights  overlooking  the  line  of  march. 
Those  of  the  advanced  and  flank  guards  hold  their  positions 
till  relieved  by  those  of  the  rear-guard. 

The  order  in  which  the  main  body  marches  must  likewise 
be  adapted  to  the  locality.  In  a  mountainous  country  or 
in  forests  the  cavalry  must  not  be  at  the  head  of  the  col- 
umn ;  because,  if  attacked  there,  they  will  probably  be  cut  to 
pieces,  and,  in  flying  to  the  rear,  will  carry  disorder  among 
the  other  troops.  And  so  with  artillery ;  still,  a  few  pieces 
can,  with  advantage,  accompany  the  advance  of  the  column, 
to  play  upon  the  enemy  if  he  attacks  suddenly. 

The  duties  of  the  rear-guard  have  been  more  or  less 
described  above;  not  much  need  be  added  here.  If  the 
locality  will  permit,  it  is  composed  of  all  arms.  In  a 
champaign  country  the  cavalry,  by  its  charges  upon  a  pur- 
suing enemy,  can  keep  him  off  until  the  infantry  have  time 
to  fall  back  to  woods,  hills,  or  other  strong  positions. 

But  while  retreating  through  a  broken  country  the  cav- 
alry should  be  at  the  extreme  rear  (now  the  head  of  the 
column),  pn  passing  over  a  bridge  or  through  a  defile, 
some  guns  should  be  stationed  at  its  mouth,  along  with  the 
infantry,  to  keep  the  enemy  aloof  while  the  other  troops  pass 
through.  After  a  defile  has  been  passed  and  the  enemy  is 
following  through  it,  then  is  a  fine  opportunity  to  concen- 
trate a  heavy  fire  from  an  extended  front  on  the  head  and 
flanks  of  his  column  as  it  debouches,  while  he  can  do  little 
in  the  way  of  retaliation. 

If  we  must  retreat  through  a  hostile  village,  it  should  first 
be  seized  by  infantry,  and  then  the  cavalry  can  either  move 


MOVING   OF  ARMIES.  57 

round  it  or  gallop  through,  provided  this  last  would  not 
interfere  with  the  fire  of  the  infantry.  Once  passed,  they 
and  the  horse  artillery  form  to  protect  the  infantry,  as  they 
emerge  from  the  village. 

The  commander  of  the  rear-guard  must  regulate  always 
his  own  movements  by  those  of  the  main  body;  being 
careful  not  to  retreat  too  soon  or  too  hastily,  for  fear  of 
coming  upon  it  and  spreading  confusion. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PASSAGE    OF   RIVERS    ON    ICE,    BY  FORDS,    BY    BOATS,   AND 
ON  RAFTS. 


one  of  the  most  difficult  and  dangerous  of 
all  the  operations  which  troops  in  a  campaign  are  ever 
called  upon  to  perform  is  the  passage  of  rivers,  especially 
in  the  presence  of  the  enemy  or  in  his  vicinity. 

It  demands  from  the  commander  the  highest  qualities  of 
discretion,  secrecy,  promptness,  and  audacity;  and  from 
the  army  absolute  obedience,  silence,  and  coolness,  together 
with  a  certain  amount  of  mechanical  skill  and  business  tact. 

The  first  considerations  to  be  weighed  are  those  of  strat- 
egy, for  the  selection  of  tlie  point  of  crossing  is  of  prime 
importance.  If  our  army  is  in  retreat)  we  should  select  a 
place  where  the  river  makes  a  sharp  and  deep  bend  away 
from  us,  as  is  represented  in  the  figure  on  the  next  page. 

Here  the  short  chord  of  the  arc  A  B  can  be  seized,  and 
by  a  comparatively  small  portion  of  our  forces,  while  the 
main  body  of  the  army  makes  the  passage.  This  chord, 
strengthened  if  practicable  and  necessary  by  a  hasty  in- 
trenchment,  and  mounted  with  sufficient  artillery,  will  be  a 
stronghold  from  which  a  heavy  fire  can  be  concentrated 
on  the  enemy  to  keep  him  aloof. 


PASSAGE   OF  RIVERS. 


59 


As  soon  as  possible  the  greatest  amount  of  long-range 
cannon  that  is  available  should  be  sent  across,  which  will 
immediately  take  up  positions  on  the  banks  opposite  to  A 
and  B,  whence  they  can  keep  up  a  cross-fire  in  front  of  the 
chord  A  B.  These  positions  should  be  re-enforced  as  fast 


''///7s 


Illllll 

as  the  troops  cross,,  —  which  they  do  at  C,  —  and  finally 
the  rear-guard  can  withdraw  from  the  chord  and  make  the 
passage  under  cover  of  the  main  body,  now  already  across, 
and  who  will  keep  up  a  concentrated  fire  across  the  river. 
The  last  of  the  rear-guard  will  detach  the  bridge  from  the 
enemy's  bank,  destroy  the  ford,  or  do  whatever  shall  be 
found  practicable  to  defeat  or  delay  the  enemy's  pas- 
sage. 

On  the  other  hand,  to  cross  over  to  the  enemy  we  must 
select  a  point  where  the  river  makes  a  deep  and  sharp  lend 
toward  us.  By  throwing  forward  strong  detachments  on 
our  flanks  to  the  points  A  and  B  (p.  60)  we  can  keep  the 
enemy  away  from  the  point  of  crossing ;  for  he  would  be 
chary  of  venturing  into  this  cul-de-sac,  where  his  troops 


60 


MILITARY  LESSONS. 


would  be  huddled  together,  with  both  of  his  flanks  exposed 
and  his  own  fire  rendered  divergent. 

These,  then,  are  the  features  of  rivers  which  would 
decide  our  choice ;  but  other  advantages  should  be  com- 
bined with  them,  if  possible.  We  should  avoid  boggy 
land,  or  places  where  the  animals  and  vehicles  are  liable 
to  mire  down.  The  approaches  ought  to  be  clear,  firm 
ground.  Should  there  be  no  choice  in  this  matter,  engineer 
troops  must  precede  the  main  body,  to  remove  obstacles 
and  remedy  the  bogs  by  throwing  in  fascines  or  making 
the  kind  of  causeway  called  corduroy. 

If  we  have  to  cross  to  the  enemy,  we  must  by  all  means 
deceive  him  by  making  feints  of  crossing  in  several  places 
at  once,  and  conducting  our  genuine  attempts  at  night  and 
with  great  secrecy.  When  retiring  before  the  enemy,  we 
can  accomplish  very  little  in  the  way  of  deception.  The 
spot  being  once  fixed  upon,  it  will  become  a  question  as  to 
the  mode  of  crossing.  And  this  task  may  be  effected  by 
swimming,  in  the  case  of  light  cavalry  and  infantry,  with 
bodies  of  troops  quite  considerable  in  numbers,  by  ford- 


PASSAGE   OF  RIVERS.  61 

ing,  by  ferrying  over  in  boats,  by  rafts,  upon  the  ice,  by 
flying  bridges,  or  by  ponton  bridges.  To  decide  in  this 
matter,  the  general  must  have  been  thoroughly  informed 
about  the  river  by  his  staff  officers.  In  addition  to  the 
facilities  presented  by  the  point  of  passage,  or  which  may 
be  collected  along  the  river,  —  such  as  boats,  and  timbers 
for  making  rafts,  —  every  well-appointed  army  will  have 
appliances  in  its  trains  for  crossing  rivers.  Such  has  been 
the  custom  from  remote  antiquity.  It  is  said  that  Semiramis, 
in  her  expedition  to  the  India,  carried  along  boats  which 
could  be  taken  to  pieces  for  transportation.  Xerxes,  we 
know,  caused  an  immense  bridge  of  boats  to  be  thrown 
across  the  Dardanelles.  Boats,  rafts  made  of  forest-trees, 
or  the  skins  of  animals  sewed  up  and  expanded  bf  air,  have 
been  in  use  for  the  passage  of  rivers  by  troops  from  the 
earliest  times.  Julius  Csesar  carried  with  his  armies  boats 
made  of  osier  frames  covered  with  leather  or  raw  hides. 
The  Emperor  Julian  made  use  of  similar  boats  to  con- 
struct his  bridges  f or  4  crossing  the  Tigris  and  the  Eu- 
phrates. 

Julius  Csesar  constructed  across  the  Seine  a  bridge,  the 
supports  of  which  were  gabions  filled  with  stones ;  and  his 
bridge  over  the  Rhine  was  on  piles,  protected  by  a  row  of 
piles,  or  a  stockade,  on  the  upper  side,  to  fend  off  heavy 
logs  and  floating  bodies  which  the  Germans  sent  down  the 
stream  to  destroy  it.  In  more  modern  times  Charles  the 
Bold  passed  the  Seine  near  Noret  on  a  bridge  of  casks. 
In  1589  Alexander  Farnese  cast  three  bridges  over  the 
Meuse  near  Bessel.  A  very  celebrated  bridge  was  that 


62  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

constructed  by  the  Spaniards  in  1585  over  a  stream  near 
Antwerp,,  and  which  came  near  being  destroyed  by  an 
infernal  machine  invented,  by  the  Italian  engineer,  Jeuni- 
belli.  In  1631  Gustavus  Adolphus  crossed  the  Lech  on 
a  trestle-bridge  in  the  presence  of  his  enemy.  In  1672 
Louis  XIV.  had  two  bridges  over  the  Rhine  supported  by 
copper  pontons.  One  of  these  bridges  was  at  Tolhuys, 
and  the  other  at  Aonheim.  The  copper  pontons  were 
extensively  used  in  his  time  and  in  that  of  his  successor. 
Grebeauval  replaced  them  by  wooden  bateaux.  In  the 
year  1746  Captain  Guillet  cast  three  bridges  over  the  Po, 
measuring  more  than  five  hundred  yards,  in  less  than 
eight  hours.  They  were  burned  immediately  after  the  pas- 
sage of  the  French  army.  Since  that  time  a  multitude  of 
similar  instances  have  occurred. 

In  order  to  decide  on  the  means  of  passing  a  river  with 
troops,  the  commander  should  have  a  thorough  and 
detailed  knowledge  of  the  river ;  and  it  is  the  business  of 
his  staff  officers  —  more  particularly  that  of  the  engi- 
neers —  to  collect  and  furnish  this  information  to  him. 
For  this  purpose  a  careful  reconnoissance  of  the  river 
should  be  made,  as  well  as  all  knowledge  possible  to  be 
obtained  from  maps,  books,  the  inhabitants  of  the  country, 
and  all  other  sources.  Data  should  be  obtained  concern- 
ing the  source  of  the  river,  its  general  direction,  bends, 
and  mouth ;  also  the  number  and  nature  of  the  tributaries, 
and  where  they  enter ;  whether  it  is  navigable,  by  what,  and 
how  far ;  whether  it  is  navigated ;  the  number  and  kind 
of  boats  and  vessels ;  what  shoals  and  reefs  there  are,  and 


PASSAGE   OF   RIVERS.  03 

what  whirlpools  and  gulfs;  what  parts,  if  any,  pass 
through  the  enemy's  territory. 

Bocks  and  reefs,  the  presence  of  which  is  indicated  by  a 
disturbance  of  the  water,  are  places  very  dangerous  to 
boats ;  while  the  whirls  or  gulfs  are  cavities  into  which  the 
water  is  precipitated,  whirling  and  sinking  below  the  gen- 
eral level.  These  last  are  also  extremely  dangerous  to 
navigation. 

The  velocity  of  the  water  is  not  the  same  in  the  whole 
breadth  of  the  river,  but  it  is  greatest  in  the  current)  where 
the  water  is  deepest.  The  current  is  indicated  by  a  rise  in 
the  height  of  the  water.  In  some  instances  this  rise  is  as 
much  as  three  feet. 

To  determine  the  velocity  of  the  current,  we  throw  in  some  light  body 
which  will  float,  and  note  the  number  of  seconds  it  is  in  passing  the  length 
of  a  base  measured  on  the  shore ;  this  distance  divided  by  the  number  of 
seconds  gives  the  velocity.  When  the  current  is  too  far  from  the  shore, 
anchor  two  boats  in  it  at  a  known  distance  and  proceed  as  before.  Or  we 
may  use  a  log,  as  on  shipboard ;  for  this  purpose  throw  in  the  log,  attached 
to  a  fine,  strong  string  which  will  freely  run  off  a  reel,  and  observe  the  time 
in  which  a  certain  distance  is  unreeled.  A  very  slight  current  is  about  half 
a  yard  per  second ;  an  ordinary  current,  eighty-five  hundredths  of  a  yard ; 
a  rapid  current,  one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  quarter  yards ;  a  very  rapid 
current,  two  and  a  half  to  three  and  a  half  yards ;  and  beyond  that  an  irre- 
sistible torrent. 

The  straighter  the  bank  the  swifter  will  be  the  current. 
As  the  current  is  different  at  different  times,  we  ought  to 
know  what  it  is  at  the  highest,  the  lowest,  and  mean 
water,  and  what  is  the  difference  of  level  at  those  stages, 
and  when  these  ordinarily  occur.  Note  the  influence  of 


64  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

the  tides,  and  how  far  up  they  extend ;  also  the  direction 
of  the  winds,  which  are  likely  to  bank  up  the  waters. 
Learn  if  there  are  any  bars,  locks,  dikes,  or  levees,  and 
their  object,  and  whether  their  destruction  would  produce  a , 
flood  or  a  ford.  With  reference  to  overflows  and  high 
waters  from  the  melting  of  snows,  we  must  remember  that 
the  first  occur  in  March  or  April,  and  the  later  and  generally 
the  larger  in  June  and  July.  Freshets  are  indicated  by  an 
increase  of  current  which  disturbs  the  water  at  the  bottom 
of  the  river ;  it  is  said  then  to  run  on  the  bottom. 

Sometimes  steady  winds  blowing  up  the  river  for  a  long 
time  bank  up  the  waters,  arresting  the  progress  of  the  cur- 
rent, and  causing  such  a  rise  as  to  bring  about  serious 
accidents. 

Learn  at  what  times  the  river  is  frozen,  and  the  thick- 
ness of  the  ice.  The  breaking  up  of  the  ice  sometimes 
causes  terrible  freshets,  because  the  sunken  ice  accumulates 
and  dams  up  the  river. 

The  swifter  the  current  is  the  greater  the  size  of  the 
bodies  which  it  carries ;  mountain  torrents  roll  along  quite 
large  bowlders.  In  a  flat  country,  deposits  of  very  fine 
sand  indicate  a  feeble  current.  Thus  by  inspecting  the 
deposits  in  the  bed  of  a  stream,  we  can  judge  somewhat  of 
the  nature  of  the  current.  Learn  whether  the  bottom  is 
rocky,  pebbly,  or  of  sharp  stones,  which  would  interfere 
with  the  fording  by  horses  and  vehicles ;  whether  it  is  of 
gravel,  mud,  or  shifting  sands ;  also  whether  it  is  covered 
with  reeds  and  rushes  which  would  interfere  with  the  motion 
of  boats. 


PASSAGE   OF   RIVERS. 


65 


Everything  which  arrests  the  flow  of  water  favors  the 
deposit  of  the  earthy  particles  which  it  contains.  In  this 
way  the  resistance  to  the  current  offered  by  the  sea  gives 
rise  to  the  bars  at  the  mouth  of  rivers  and  harbors ;  and 
so,  likewise,  with  the  bars  at  the  mouth  of  tributaries. 

See  whether  there  are  any  islands,  their  number,  size, 
location ;  whether  wooded  or  not,  facilities  for  attack,  and 
defence,  etc. 

The  width  of  rivers  may  be  determined  by  stretching 
across  them  a  small  cord  or  wire  which  is  graduated. 

If  this  method  be  not  practicable,  the 
width  may  be  found,  though  not  so  ac- 
curately, by  calculation  :  thus,  suppose  it 
is  required  to  find  the  width  of  the  river, 
A  B ;  draw  and  measure,  on  the  shore 
where  you  are,  the  line  B  D  E,  of  any 
convenient  length,  perpendicular  to  A  B ; 
measure  E  F  perpendicular  to  B  E,  also 
of  a  convenient  length,  and  observe  the 
point  D,  where  the  line  FD  A  cuts  B  E\ 
measure  D  E  and  D  B ;  then  we  have 
from  the  similar  triangles  A  B  L  and  D  E  F  the  proportion  D  E  :  E  F :  : 
D  B  :  A  B. 

The  form  of  the  bottom  of  the  river  may  be  determined 
by  sounding  with  a  graduated  rod,  at  fixed  distances  from 
the  river  banks.  Also  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  water  may 
be  observed  by  driving  pickets  into  the  bottom  a  short 
distance  from  the  shore. 

Observe  whether  the  banks  are  steep,  and  whether  they 
are  within  range-points  favorable  to  attack  or  defence. 


66  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

These,  and  many  other  data  which  will  suggest  themselves 
to  an  intelligent  officer,  should  be  collected. 

Rivers  may  be  passed  by  fords,  on  ice,  on  floating  bodies, 
or  on  bridges.  Perfect  order  should  characterize  the  dif- 
ferent operations.  Care  should  be  taken  to -slope  down  the 
banks  at  the  point  of  passage,  so  as  to  make  an  easy  grade 
for  animals  and  vehicles. 

Passage  by  Swimming,  —  Swimming  should  be  taught 
to  all  the  troops,  and  swimming  of  horses  to  cavalry.  This 
is  much  attended  to  in  some  of  the  European  services,  but 
hi  this  country  it  is  almost  wholly  neglected.  Cavalry  can 
pass  a  river  by  swimming  better  than  infantry,  because  the 
horses  swim  naturally.  To  swim  a  horse,  the  rider  ought, 
to  a  great  extent,  to  let  him  have  his  own  way;  sitting 
quietly  and  directing  him  obliquely  down  stream,  so  that 
the  current  may  not  take  too  much  hold  upon  him. 

When  it  is  necessary  to  turn  the  horse,  the  rein  of  the 
bridle  on  the  side  to  which  he  is  to  turn  should  be  taken 
carefully  in  the  hand  and  his  head  slowly  turned. 

In  the  passage  of  the  Rhine  narrated  by  Boileau,  all  of  the 
river,  except  about  one  hundred  yards,  was  fordable.  Some 
individual  horsemen  attempted  to  swim  this  part,  and  were 
drowned;  but  afterwards  an  attempt  to  swim  a  squadron- 
front  at  a  time  being  made,  and  the  men  mutually  sustain- 
ing each  other,  it  was  entirely  successful ;  and  in  this  man- 
ner the  whole  cavalry  passed  and  defeated  the  enemy. 

Horses  are  frequently  discharged  from  on  board  ship  by 
being  thrust  into  the  water,  where  they  will  follow  to  the 
shore  other  horses  swimming  and  being  led  by  persons  in 
boats. 


i 


PASSAGE   OF  RIVERS.  67 

Passage  on  Ice.  —  This  is  an  exceedingly  precarious 
mode  of  passing  a  river.  After  a  corps  has  succeeded  in 
passing,  a  sudden  change  of  temperature  may  break  up  the 
ice  and  cut  off  its  communications.  Besides  this,  great 
care  and  prudence  are  requisite  in  the  operation  to  pre- 
vent frightful  accidents.  Ice  which  is  from  three  inches  to 
three  and  a  half  inches  thick  will  serve  for  infantry  march- 
ing by  single  file ;  when  four  and  a  half  inches  thick,  cavalry 
and  light  artillery  may  pass;  when  four  and  six  tenths 
to  five  inches  thick,  heavy  field  batteries  can  cross.  The 
wheels  should  be  fastened  on  slides,  parallel  to  the  axis  of 
the  carriage  (not  to  the  axles  or  axle-trees) .  A  kind  of 
sled  will  thus  be  formed ;  the  horses  must  be  taken  out  and 
led  over,  and  then  the  pieces  and  carriages  can  be  pushed 
across  by  the  men.  The  ice  should  always  be  resting  on 
the  water,  otherwise  it  is  very  insecure.  The  strength  of 
ice  may  be  much  increased  in  very  cold  weather,  by  cover- 
ing it  with  a  layer  of  straw  or  of  fascines,  and  pouring  water 
over  it  to  freeze. 

To  prevent  accidents,  straw  or  planks  should  be  placed 
under  the  horses'  feet  and  under  the  wheels ;  the  carriages 
should  not  follow  each  other  at  a  less  interval  than  twenty 
paces;  cannon  of  large  caliber  are  slid  over  on  sleds  if 
the  ice  will  not  bear  them  when  mounted  on  their  carriages. 
In  the  winter  of  1794-5  the  French  army,  by  means  of 
ice  passages,  effected  the  conquest  of  Holland;  and  their 
light  cavalry  captured  a  fleet  of  ships  ! 

Fords.  —  In  a  campaign  fords  are  extremely  convenient 
for  the  passage  of  rivers,  not  merely  by  small  detachments, 


68  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

but  by  entire  armies.  In  the  celebrated  Italian  campaign 
of  1797  the  French  army  crossed  the  Tagliamento,  in  order 
of  battle,  and  attacked  and  defeated  the  Austrians. 

History,  even  the  most  recent,  is  full  of  examples.  The 
best  fords  are  those  with  firm,  solid  bottoms.  In  moun- 
tainous regions  the  fords  are  beset  with  large  stones,  which 
render  them  impracticable  for  wheeled  carriages;  in  fiat 
countries  there  is  often  mud  or  fine  sand  at  the  bottom, 
which  is  cut  up  by  the  horses'  feet,  thus  destroying  the  fords. 
In  torrent-like  rivers,  and  those  subject  to  freshets,  the 
fords  are  changeable  in  depth  and  position,  presenting  but 
little  security. 

The  ordinary  depth  of  a  ford  should  not  be  greater  than 
three  feet  for  infantry,  four  feet  for  cavalry,  and  two  feet 
four  inches  for  artillery.  However,  where  the  current  is 
gentle,  infantry  can  take  a  ford  four  feet  deep. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  a  river  is  fordable  all  except  a 
narrow  channel,  either  because  the  enemy  has  dug  it  out,  or 
that  it  is  naturally  deeper  there  than  elsewhere.  This 
channel  may  be  all,  or  nearly  all,  filled  up  by  sinking  in  it 
fascines  with  stones  on  them,  or  boxes  or  gabions  filled 
with  stones  and  gravel.  It  may  be  remarked,  that  if  it 
should  be  found  necessary  to  leave  a  narrow  channel,  it 
may  be  bridged  over. 

The  location  of  fords  may  be  found  from  the  inhabitants 
of  the  neighborhood,  or  by  observing  where  the  tracks  of 
vehicles  enter  the  water ;  by  the  increased  velocity  of  the 
current,  or  the  increased  width  of  the  river ;  by  a  double 
change  of  direction  within  a  short  distance,  —  and  in  this 


PASSAGE   OF  RIVERS.  69 

case  the  ford  runs  diagonally  from  one  bank  to  the  other. 
Also  fords  are  sometimes  just  above  a  bridge,  or  at  the 
mouths  of  streams  and  rivers. 

A  very  good  way  of  discovering  a  ford  is  to  descend  the 
stream  in  a  boat  or  canoe,,  with  a  lead-line  suspended  in  the 
water,  having  the  proper  depth  for  infantry  or  cavalry,  as 
the  case  may  require ;  on  the  cord  should  be  a  float,  which 
would  make  its  appearance  when  the  lead  touched  bottom. 
When  bottom  is  touched,  the  party  sounding  halt  and 
sound  in  all  directions  for  a  ford,  and  mark  out  its  direction 
and  width  by  two  lines  of  pickets  driven  into  the  bottom. 

The  lower  line  of  pickets  may  have  a  line  stretching  from 
one  picket  to  another,  throughout  its  length,  for  the  safety 
of  those  who  may  lose  their  foothold  in  crossing,  and  be  in 
danger  of  being  borne  off  by  the  current.  This  last  pre- 
caution is  very  good  for  night  passages. 

Fords  may  also  be  formed  by  sounding  with  rods  or 
poles ;  this  is  said  to  be  the  fashion  of  the  Cossacks.  They 
spread  themselves  along  the  shore,  lance  in  hand,  and  as 
soon  as  one  has  found  a  ford  they  all  join  him,  and  in  a 
very  short  time  determine  its  width  and  direction. 

When  the  location  of  a  ford  is  known,  before  adventuring 
into  it,  swimmers  should  be  sent  into  it  to  explore  its  nature 
and  condition,  to  remove  obstacles,  and  to  repair  it  should 
the  enemy  have  injured  it. 

They  must  fill  up  all  trous-de-loups,  or  holes,  which  he 
may  have  dug  there,  either  with  fascines  weighted  down,  or 
with  stones  and  gravel. 

When  the  water  is  very  swift,  a  line  should  be  stretched 


70  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

along  the  upper  side  of  the  crossing,  with  empty  kegs  at  in- 
tervals to  float  it.  To  this  line,  small  cords  are  tied  at  frequent 
intervals,  with  blocks  of  light  wood  fastened  at  their  lower 
ends  to  keep  them  floating.  These  will  serve  for  those  who 
lose  their  footing  to  seize  hold  on. 

The  Passage.  —  The  infantry  pass  first ;  they  should 
be  in  platoons,  nearly  at  full  distance.  Next  comes  the 
artillery ;  and  last,  the  cavalry.  This  order  is  observed, 
because  the  feet  of  the  horses  cut  up  and  injure  the  ford. 

The  infantry  soldiers  should  advance  the  up-stream 
shoulders,  and  carry  their  muskets  on  that  shoulder;  and 
to  prevent  wetting  their  ammunition,  the  cartridge-box 
should  be  fastened  on  top  the  knapsack. 

The  men  must  be  careful  not  to  gaze  steadily  at  the 
water,  because  of  its  making  their  heads  swim,  as  it  is 
called ;  they  should  look  at  the  bank.  It  is  sometimes  a 
good  expedient  to  station  a  line  of  cavalry  along  the  upper 
edge  of  the  ford,  to  break  the  force  of  the  current ;  and  oth- 
ers along  the  lower  side  to  catch  those  who  are  borne  away 
by  it.  Sometimes  (as  in  very  cold  weather)  foot-soldiers 
mount  behind  the  cavaliers,  and  so  pass  over.  Finally  the 
passage  must  be  controlled  by  the  particular  circumstances 
of  the  case,  and  a  sound  discretion. 

When  cavalry  are  fording,  the  bridle-reins  should  be 
held  somewhat  tight,  in  order  to  raise  the  heads  of  the 
horses  and  compel  them  to  look  at  the  shore ;  for  they, 
too,  are  troubled  by  the  sight  of  the  flowing  waters. 
Neither  should  they  be  allowed  to  drink,  for  the  same 
reason. 


'V 

PASSAGE   OF   RIVERS. //TT  }T  T  '/ 

II  w  Ai  ,' 


A  ford  should  never  be  attempted  when 
ing,  unless  it  is  certain  that  the  whole  force 
before  the  ford  ceases  to  be  practicable.  Moreover,  no 
ford  should  be  relied  on  as  a  sure  means  of  communication, 
for  it  may  be  destroyed  by  a  sudden  freshet  or  other  acci- 
dent. 

When  on  a  retreat,  fords  should  be  destroyed  behind 
us,  by  digging  channels,  holes,  placing  obstacles,  sowing 
crow's-feet,  etc.  Crow's-feet  are  four  iron  spikes  joined  in 
one  point,  and  pointing  in  different  directions;  so  that 
when  three  are  resting  on  the  ground,  one  will  be  pointing 
upwards.  Trees  trimmed  as  for  abattis  may  be  fixed  in 
the  way,  and  any  obstacles  presented  by  the  locality  may 
be  utilized  for  stopping  or  delaying  the  enemy.  Finally, 
cut  the  banks  into  steep  bluffs. 

Passage  by  Boats.  —  Passage  of  rivers  may  be  made  in 
this  way  either  in  presence  of  the  enemy,  or  by  surprise, 
for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  establishment  of  a  bridge ; 
besides,  isolated  corps,  unless  too  large,  may  pass  in  this 
manner. 

In  the  last  case,  it  has  the  merit  of  despatch  when  com- 
pared with  the  time  necessary  to  lay  a  bridge  and  take  it 
up  again. 

When  we  have  no  boats  of  equipage,  pontoniers  and 
boatmen,  escorted  by  light  cavalry,  proceed  to  seize  all  the 
boats  to  be  found  on  the  river,  and  take  them  to  the  point 
of  passage ;  these  men  must  be  provided  with  the  neces- 
sary ropes  and  tools.  Their  movements  must  be  rapid  and 
skillfully  concealed. 


72  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

It  frequently  happens  that  the  enemy  has  destroyed  or 
sunk  the  boats  along  his  shore,  and  it  becomes  necessary  to 
raise  the  sunken  ones.  In  order  to  raise  a  sunken  boat, 
we  bring  alongside  of  it  two  others,  with  an  interval 
greater  than  its  width  between  them ;  they  should  be  fas- 
tened together  by  two  beams  extending  across  the  gunwales, 
and  solidly  fastened.  The  boats  are  fast  anchored,  to  hold 
them  in  place;  then  a  line  is  run  under  one  end  of  the 
sunken  boat,  fastened  to  an  end  of  one  of  the  auxiliary 
boats,  and  the  men  haul  on  the  other  end  of  the  line. 
When  the  end  of  the  boat  is  raised  above  the  surface  of  the 
water,  the  line  is  fastened,  and  a  similar  operation  is  per- 
formed under  the  other  end.  When  the  boat  has  been 
raised,  it  should  be  bailed  out  and  set  afloat. 

Another  method  would  be  to  pass  lines  under  the 
sunken  boat,  then  let  water  into  the  two  auxiliary  boats 
until  they  are  pretty  nearly  submerged,  fasten  the  lines, 
and  bail  out  the  boats.  On  rising,  they  will  lift  the 
sunken  boat;  repeat  the  operation,  if  necessary,  until  it 
can  be  bailed  out  and  taken  possession  of. 

Sometimes  a  sunken  boat  can  be  dragged  to  a  shallow 
place  where  it  can  be  bailed.  Auger-holes  or  ball-holes 
may  be  filled  by  conic  plugs;  leaks  and  cracks  by  tow 
steeped  in  tallow  and  covered  over  with  strips  of  plank 
nailed  on  from  the  interior. 

When  the  boats  are  all  assembled  at  the  crossing-place, 
if  there  is  time,  their  respective  capacities  should  be 
marked  upon  them.  The  steadiness  of  boats  increases  with 
their  size.  Their  power  of  flotation  is  obtained  by  sub- 


PASSAGE   OF   RIVERS.  73 

tracting  their  weight  from  that  of  the  volume  of  water 
which  they  would  displace  if  they  were  sunk  flush  with  the 
surface  of  the  water. 

A  rule  used  in  the  French  military  service  is  the  following  :  Measure  the 
height  of  the  gunwales  above  the  water,  the  boat  being  afloat ;  calculate  the 
area  of  the  horizontal  section  half-way  between  the  water-line  and  the  top 
of  the  gunwale ;  multiply  together  these  quantities  expressed  in  metres, 
and  the  product  will  give  the  number  of  cubic  metres  of  capacity  above  the 
water-line.  Now,  since  the  cubic  metre  of  water  weighs  1,000  kilograms, 
you  have  the  weight  the  boat  can  carry.  Suppose  the  cubic  contents  were 
8.75  cubic  metres,  the  capacity  would  be  8,750  kilograms,  or  19,250  pounds. 
The  kilogram  equals  2.204737  pounds  avoirdupois,  and  the  metre  39.37 
inches.  If  the  measures  were  taken  in  feet,  multiply  tHe  number  of  cubic 
feet  of  volume  by  62J  pounds.  But  it  would  never  do  to  load  a  boat  down 
to  the  extent  mentioned ;  hence  we  must  cut  down  this  estimate  consider- 
ably. Measuring  by  the  pace  and  the  eye  would  then  suffice. 

The  lower  down  the  center  of  gravity  is,  the  steadier  will 
the  boat  ride.  The  following  data  will  suffice  to  regulate 
the  loading  of  the  boats.  A  man  under  arms  will  weigh 
about  175  pounds;  without  arms,  140  pounds;  and  he 
will  occupy  a  little  over  one  third  of  a  square  yard.  A 
horse  will  weigh  from  900  pounds  to^l,000  pounds,  and 
will  occupy  about  9x3  feet.  Six  persons  without  arms 
can  be  placed  on  a  space  but  little  larger  than  a  square 
yard,  which  gives  a  weight  of  near  900  pounds  to  the 
square  yard. 

The  boats  having  had  their  capacities  marked  on  them, 
they  are  drawn  up  according  thereto,  and  crews  are 
assigned  in  the  proportion  of  one  pilot  to  four  oars- 
men. The  boats  are  propelled  either  by  oars  or  poles. 
4 


74  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

Where  there  is  no  rudder,  a  fifth  oar  may  supply  its 
place. 

Upon  its  arrival,  the  body  of  troops  is  divided  into  pla- 
toons, each  chief  of  platoon  being  informed  what  boat  is 
assigned  to  him,  and  when  he  is  to  embark. 

The  soldiers  should  neither  embark  in  nor  leave  the  boat 
in  a  body,  for  fear  of  upsetting  it.  Infantry  should  enter 
at  the  bow,  and  seat  themselves  upon  or  at  the  foot  of  the 
gunwales,  beginning  at  the  stern,  the  cartridge -box  drawn 
around  to  the  front,  and  the  musket  between  the  knees. 
If  the  water  is  too  shallow  near  the  bank,  before  entering, 
the  boat  should  be  shoved  off  a  sufficient  distance,  and  the 
men  can  wade  into  it.  This  remark  also  applies  to  landing. 

While  in  the  boat  the  men  must  remain  perfectly  still 
and  silent,  and  they  should  be  cautioned  that,  if  the  boat 
should  lean  over  to  one  side,  not  to  throw  themselves  too 
suddenly  towards  the  opposite,  especially  if  the  careening 
should  arise  from  running  on  some  obstacle  in  the  water  ; 
for  there  would  be  danger  of  upsetting. 

A  strict  surveillance  should  be  kept  on  boatmen  who  are 
strangers,  both  to  see  that  they  perform  their  duties  well, 
and  also  to  prevent  treachery.  Even  those  who  were 
friendly  have  been  known  to  jump  overboard  to  e'scape  the 
dangers  of  landing.  In  the  immediate  presence  of  the 
enemy  the  men  should  have  their  pieces  loaded  and  bayo- 
nets fixed ;  but  they  should  be  forbidden,  under  the  severest 
penalties,  to  fire  without  orders.  When  it  can  be  done  in 
shallow  boats,  the  men  should  sit  on  the  bottom,  thus  lower- 
ing the  center  of  gravity  and  rendering  the  ferriage  more 
secure. 


PASSAGE   OF   RIVERS.  75 

A  boat  with  25  infantry-men  should  cross  a  stream  125 
yards  wide  in  a  minute  and  a  half.  The  efficiency  of  small 
boats  can  be  increased  by  lashing  together  two,  four,  or 
more.  Four  boats  arranged  in  this  way  could  carry  80  per 
cent  more  than  when  used  alone.  This  expedient  was  put  in 
practice  at  the  siege  of  Antwerp  in  1832. 

With  small  boats,  cavalry  are  passed  by  putting  six 
troopers  in  a  boat,  who  lead  their  horses,  swimming  three 
on  a  side ;  unless  the  current  is  very  swift,  when  only  three 
horses  will  be  taken  at  a  time,  they  swimming  on  the  lower 
side. 

But  when  there  are  boats  large  enough,  it  is  better  to 
cross  the  horses  in  them.  For  this  purpose  a  floor  should 
be  laid  on  beams  upon  the  bottom,  for  the  horses  to  stand 
on.  The  horses  should  be  placed  across  the  boat,  head 
and  tail  alternating,  their  riders  standing  near  their  heads 
and  holding  the  reins  close  to  the  bit.  It  is  dangerous  to 
place  them  lengthwise  in  the  boat.  A  ramp  or  inclined 
plane  is  made  in  the  bow  to  facilitate  the  getting  in  and 
out  of  the  animals. 

Artillery  is  transported  dismounted;  sometimes  it  is 
•  placed  on  two  or  more  boats  lashed  together.  This  last 
method  is  to  be  preferred,  because  it  enables  us  to  take  the 
pieces  over  mounted  on  their  carriages. 

In  transporting  materials  and  stores,  the  heaviest  should 
be  placed  in  the  bottom.  Those  articles  liable  to  injury 
from  wetting,  like  powder,  rations,  and  arms,  must  be  kept 
out  of  the  water,  and  covered  with  tarpaulins. 

Navigation.  —  When,  in  place  of  crossing,  it  is  intended 


76  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

to  navigate  some  distance  along  the  river,  in  addition  to 
observing  all  the  precautions  indicated  above,  the  load 
should  be  diminished  about  twenty-five  per  cent,  and  the 
convoy  should  be  preceded  by  a  skiff  or  canoe,  to  recon- 
noiter  and  explore. 

A  river  which  has  a  fall  of  one  in  four  thousand  is  of  easy 
navigation,  and  may  be  ascended  by  sail ;  but  a  fall  of  one 
in  two  thousand  is  too  swift  for  sail  alone,  and  towage  must 
be  resorted  to.  Eivers  with  a  fall  of  one  in  fifteen  hundred 
are  impracticable.  Where  the  passages  are  very  dangerous, 
local  pilots  must  be  procured. 

A  celebrated  passage  was  made  on  the  25th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1799,  by  the  French  army  of  the  Danube  before 
Dictiken.  The  boats  which  had  been  collected  on  the  Aar 
and  the  Eeuss,  not  being  able  to  reach  the  point  of  passage 
without  passing  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  they  were 
taken  over  a  portage  by  wagon  and  by  hand.  The  head  of 
the  convoy  arrived  at  night  at  Dictiken ;  the  boats  were 
taken  to  the  shore  and  arranged  in  order;  it  took  one 
hundred  men  to  carry  some  of  the  largest,  while  twenty 
men  were  sufficient  for  the  smaller  ones. 

The  boats  all  being  in  place  and  provided  with  their  out- 
fits, the  boatmen  lay  down  each  behind  his  own  boat,  oar  in 
hand.  The  smallest  and  lightest  boats  formed  the  right 
division,  which  was  to  lead  the  assault ;  those  of  medium 
size  formed  the  left  wing,  whose  duty  was  to  carry  an 
island  occupied  by  the  Eussians,  and  whence  they  had  a 
reverse  fire  on  the  point  of  passage.  The  heaviest  boats 
formed  the  center.  The  artillery,  commanded  by  General 


PASSAGE   OF  RIVERS.  77 

Foy,  had  taken  up  a  position  to  effectually  protect  the 
passage.  Such  was  the  silence  and  good  order  that  reigned 
throughout  this  operation,  that  neither  the  Eussians  nor  even 
the  French  troops  themselves  heard  a  sound.  At  a  signal 
given  by  General  Gasan,  the  banks  of  the  river  were  cov- 
ered with  troops,  who  assaulted  and  beat  the  enemy,  despite 
a  heavy  fire  of  grape.  Another  instance  of  boat  passage 
under  the  fire  of  the  enemy  was  that  at  Queenstown,  by  the 
American  troops.  The  landing  of  General  Scott  at  Vera 
Cruz  was  a  specimen  of  well-organized  and  thoroughly  suc- 
cessful boat  service,  although  no  opposition  was  offered  by 
the  enemy.  Many  more  instances  could  be  adduced. 

Eafts  and  Foot-Bridges.  —  Eafts  may  be  used,  instead 
of  boats."  They  have  the  advantage  of  not  'being  liable  to 
be  sunk  by  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  but  are  troublesome  to 
construct,  and  require  time.  They  are  composed  of  logs, 
trimmed  and  very  roughly  dressed,  to  be  fastened  together ; 
and  ordinarily  rectangular  in  shape,  being  held  together  by 
cross-pieces  pinned  or  spiked  to  the  logs.  To  make  the 
rafts  of  the  same  consistency  throughout,  the  logs  should  be 
arranged  with  the  butts  and  tops  alternating.  The  power 
of  flotation  of  rafts  formed  of  light  wood  is  in  proportion 
to  their  volume.  For  example,  if  the  wood  weighed  six 
tenths  as  much  as  water,  each  cubic  yard  would  sustain 
about  eight  hundred  pounds.  When  rafts  are  long  in  the 
water  they  become  water-logged,  and  lose  their  serviceable- 
ness.  Eafts  may  be  made  of  empty  casks,  fastened  under 
light  beams,  which  are  covered  with  branches  of  trees. 

In  loading  rafts  the  troops  must  go  upon  them  in  good 


78  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

order  and  carefully.  If  a  great  number  should  rush  upon 
them  at  once,  they  would  infallibly  capsize  them.  Infantry, 
marching  by  the  flank,  should  first  come  upon  the  raft  and 
occupy  the  middle  of  the  whole  length.  Then  two  more 
bodies  should  come  on  simultaneously,  the  one  going  in 
front,  the  other  in  rear  of  those  already  established ;  and  so 
on,  until  the  load  is  complete.  The  men  should  hold  their 
muskets  resting  on  their  feet. 

Similar  precautions  are  taken  with  cavalry;  the -horses 
are  placed  crosswise  the  raft,  head  and  tail  alternating.  In 
loading  with  artillery,  place  the  heaviest  pieces  in  the 
middle,  and  distribute  the  remainder  evenly  over  the  raft, 
according  to  weight. 

Navigation  by  rafts  is  advantageous  where  the  bottoms 
of  the  rivers  are  rocky  and  uneven,  but  they  are  slow, 
require  to  be  started  in  much  farther  above  the  landing,  and 
drift  much  more  than  boats ;  besides,  it  is  difficult  with 
them  to  make  the  exact  landing. 

One  of  the  most  memorable  passages  on  rafts  was  that 
made  in  1701,  across  the  Dwina.  The  king  of  Sweden  sent 
across  the  first  troops  in  boats,  and  these  were  followed  by 
one  hundred  rafts,  which  had  been  prepared  by  General 
Dalberg ;  the  Swedes  carried  the  works  of  the  Saxons,  and 
forced  them  to  retreat. 

Foot-Bridges.  —  Small  streams  may  be  crossed  by  foot 
logs  or  bridges,  caused  by  felling  trees  across.  Where 
they  are  somewhat  wider,  cut  a  tree  on  each  bank,  opposite 
to  each  other.  Retain  the  butts  ashore,  and  let  the  tops 
swing  around  from  above,  lowering  them  away  by  lines,  so 


PASSAGE   OF  RIVERS.  79 

that  the  tops  shall  meet  in  the  stream,,  interlacing  and 
forming  a  salient  angle  up  stream.  Fasten  them  together, 
and  remove  whatever  would  impede  the  passage. 

In  this  country,  where  every  one  knows  something  of 
frontier  life,,  there  would  always  be  found  among  the  troops 
many  whose  experience  and  knowledge  of  such  things 
would  suffice  to  take  advantage  of  the  particular  circum- 
stances of  each  case. 


CHAPTER  V. 

MILITARY  BRIDGES  IN  GENERAL, 

Etlie  last  chapter  we  discussed  the  passage  of  rivers  by 
iwimming,  on  the  ice,  on  rafts,  by  boats,  and  by  fords. 
But  no  means  of  passing  rivers  is  so  reliable  for  armies  as 
that  by  bridges,  and  such  is  the  usual  method.  Military 
bridges  are  those  thrown  across  a  river  temporarily,  for  the 
passage  of  troops.  They  are,  of  course,  much  inferior  in 
stability  to  permanent  bridges,  and  they  exact  much  care 
for  their  preservation. 

As  hinted  before,  this  idea  is  by  no  means  modern ;  but 
military  bridges  were  in  familiar  use  in  very  remote  ages. 
The  bridge  over  the  Hellespont,  constructed  by  order  of 
Xerxes,  is  an  instance ;  and  it  is  a  matter  of  curio u«  interest 
to  observe  how  closely  it  resembled  a  modern  ponton- 
bridge. 

Herodotus  says  :  "  A  bridge  was  there  constructed  by  a 
different  set  of  architects,  who  performed  it  in  the  following 
manner ;  they  connected  together  ships  of  different  kinds  ; 
some  long  vessels  of  fifty  oars,  others  three-banked  galleys, 
to  the  number  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  on  the  side 
towards  the  Euxine  Sea,  and  three  hundred  and  thirteen  on 
that  of  the  Hellespont.  The  former  of  these  were  placed 


MILITARY   BRIDGES  IN   GENERAL.  81 

transversely,  but  the  latter,  to  diminish  the  strain  upon  the 
cables,  in  the  direction  of  the  current. 

"  When  these  vessels  were  firmly  connected  together,  they 
were  secured  on  each  side  by  anchors  of  great  length :  on 
the  upper  side,  because  of  the  winds  which  set  in  from  the 
Euxine;  on  the  lower,  toward  the  ^Egean  Sea,  on  account 
of  the  south  and  southeast  winds.  They  left,  however, 
openings  in  those  places  sufficient  to  afford  a  passage  for 
light  vessels,  which  might  have  occasion  to  sail  into  the 
Euxine  or  from  it;  having  performed  this,  they  extended 
cables  from  the  shore,  stretching  them  upon  large  capstans 
of  wood ;  for  this  purpose  they  did  not  employ  a  number 
of  separate  cables,  but  united  four  of  biblos  with  two  of 
white  flax.  These  were  alike  in  thickness  and  apparently  so 
in  goodness ;  but  those  of  flax  were,  in  proportion,  much  the 
more  solid,  weighing  not  less  than  a  talent  to  every  cubit. 

"  When  the  pass  was  thus  secured,  they  sawed  out  rafters 
of  wood,  making  their  length  equal  to  the  space  required 
for  the  bridge;  they  laid  them  in  order  across  upon  the 
extended  cables,  and  then  bound  them  fast  together.  They 
next  brought  unwrought  wood,  which  they  placed  very  regu- 
larly upon  the  rafters;  over  all  they  threw  earth,  which 
they  raised  to  a  proper  height ;  and  finished  all  by  a  fence 
on  each  side,  that  the  horses  and  other  beasts  of  burden 
might  not  be  terrified  by  looking  down  upon  the  sea." 

When  we  get  through  with  our  account  of  ponton- 
bridges,  it  will  be  seen  that  we  have  not  improved  so  much 
as  some  might  suppose  on  the  engineers  of  the  time  of 
Xerxes. 


MILITARY  LESSONS. 

A  military  bridge  consists,  in  general,  of  a  platform 
about  twelve  to  fourteen  feet  wide,  made  of  strong  planks, 
and  is  without  parapets  or  fences,  as  Herodotus  calls  them. 
This  platform  or  roadway  rests  upon  small  beams,  which 
are  supported  by  boats,  rafts,  or  trestles.  The  portion  of 
the  bridge  comprised  between  two  consecutive  supports  is 
called  a  bay,  and  the  two  at  the  ends  are  called  abutment- 
bays.  The  bridges  are  named  after  the  kind  of  supports ; 
as  ponton-bridges,  trestle-bridges,  raft-bridges,  etc. 

The  depth  and  velocity  of  the  water,  and  the  materials  at. 
our  disposal,  will  determine  the  kinds  of  supports  to  be 
used;  but  it  may  often  happen  that  we  shall  use  several 
different  kinds  of  support  in  the  same  bridge. 

This  kind  of  bridge  being  very  frail,  a  prudent  general 
would  not  trust  to  a  single  one  only,  because  an  accident  to 
it  might  arrest  the  march  of  the  troops  at  any  moment,  and 
compromise  the  safety  of  those  who  were  already  across, 
and  thus  cut  off.  The  strategic  choice  of  locality  was 
indicated  in  the  preceding  chapter.  In  addition  to  what 
was  there  said,  some  other  conditions  must  be  combined, 
when  practicable.  Steep  and  high  banks  should  be  avoided, 
because  otherwise  we  should  be  compelled  to  dig  long 
ramps,  or  inclined  plane^,  at  the  abutments.  These  ramps 
should  not  be  steeper  than  one  upon  six ;  and  it  is  desirable 
that  the  banks  should  not  be  more  than  six  or  seven  feet 
high.  We  should  avoid  placing  the  bridge  below  a  tribu- 
tary held  by  the  enemy,  lest  he  should  send  down  floating 
bodies  to  injure  or  destroy  it. 

Where  the  water  is  so  shallow  that  the  boats  would  rest 


MILITARY  BRIDGES   IN  GENERAL. 


83 


on  the  bottom,  and  be  in  danger  of  being  crushed  by  the 
superincumbent  load,  they  should  be  replaced  by  trestles. 
The  axis,  or  middle  line,  of  the  bridge  should  be  as 
nearly  straight  as  possible,  and  the  supports,  of  whatever 
kind,  should  have  their  lengths  in  the  direction  of  the  cur- 
rent, which  otherwise  would  have  too  heavy  a  bearing  upon 
them,  and  a  tendency  to  overturn  them.  If  the  supports 
of  the  bridge  are  floating  bodies,  they  should  have  such 
dimensions  that  the  weight  of  the  volume  of  the  water 
displaced  should  exceed  the  weight  of  a  bay  of  the  bridge, 
increased  by  the  greatest  weight  which  is  destined  to  be 
upon  it  at  any  one  time. 

Bridges  of  Boats.  —  These  are  constructed  either  with 
the  boats  of  the  army  equipage  or  with  the  boats  of  the 
country. 

Boats  of  Equipage.  —  These  are  a  part  of  the  equipage 
of  the  army,  and  move  with  it.  Their  details  differ  in  dif- 
ferent countries,  while  their  essential  features  are  the  same 
in  all. 

That  of  the  United  States  service  —  and  which,  is  a 
modification  of  the  French  —  is  as  follows,  taken  from 
the  Manual  for  Engineer  Troops,  by  General  Duane :  — 

34  ponton-wagons,  each  loaded  as  follows :  7  long  balks ;  1  ponton, 
inside  of  which  are  placed  12  balk  lashings ;  7  rack  lashings ;  7 
rack  sticks ;  6  rowlocks  ;  2  spring  lines  ;  5  oars ;  2  boat-hooks ; 
under  the  rear  axle  is  lashed  one  anchor. 

22  chess-wagons  ;  load  of  each,  41  chess  and  2  cables. 

4  trestle-icagons ;  load  of  each  :  2  trestle-caps,  4  legs,  4  shoes,  4 
chains,  and  14  short  or  claw  balks. 


84  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

4  abutment-wagons ;  load  of  each :  2  abutment  sills,  1  trestle-cap,  2 

legs,  2  shoes,  2  chains,  14  short  balks. 
4  tool-wagons ;  loaded  with  carpenter's  and  intrenching  tools,  spare 

cordage,  etc. 
2  traveling -forges. 

Being  70  wagons,  carrying  12  complete  trestles,  and  238  long  and 
118  short  balks  (beams  or  joists),  8  abutment-sills,  200  rowlocks, 
192  oars,  100  boat-hooks,  70  scoops,  5  pumps,  10  buckets,  24  pick- 
ets, 240  rack  sticks,  48  rack  collars,  cordage,  44  cables,  128  spring 
lines,  728  balk  lashings,  360  side-rail  lashings,  2  sheer  lines,  6  sets 
of  large  double  blocks,  and  6  sets  small  double  blocks. 

If  the  equipage  does  not  travel  with  the  army,  it  should 
have  a  strong  escort.  In  dry  weather  the  pontons  should 
be  frequently  wetted. 

Before  proceeding  to  construct  a  ponton-bridge,  the 
materials  should  be  assorted  and  arranged  near  the  first 
abutment  of  the  bridge.  The  pontons  are  launched  below 
it.  The  construction  begins  with  that  of  the  first  "  bay." 
To  this  end,  the  ground  is  cut  down,  or  raised,  as  the  case 
may  require,  to  the  height  of  the  boats.  A  beam  with  its 
upper  surface  on  this  level  is  then  imbedded  perpendicular 
to  the  direction  of  the  bridge,  and  held  in  place  by  pickets 
driven  into  the  ground.  A  ponton  is  then  placed  in  posi- 
tion either  10  or  20  feet  (according  to  circumstances),  from 
the  beam  or  sill  on  the  bank,  and  securely  moored  with  its 
length  perpendicular  to  the  bridged  axis.  Balks  are  now 
placed  with  one  end  on  the  mud-sill,  and  the  other  just 
passing  beyond  the  outer  gunwale  of  the  ponton,  the  balks 
being  lashed  to  the  gunwales.  On  top  of  these  balks 
are  laid  the  chess,  or  planks,  which  form  the  roadway. 


MILITARY   BRIDGES   IN   GENERAL.  85 

Another  boat  or  ponton  is  anchored  20  feet  'from  the  last, 
and  balks  are  laid  from  the  first  boat  to  the  second,  lashing 
the  ends  to  the  gunwales  and  also  to  the  ends  of  the  balk 
first  laid.  On  these  balks  are  laid  chess  as  before,  and 
then  the  side-rails  are  lashed  down  on  the  en'ds  of  the 
chess  at  the  sides  of  the  bridge,  to  hold  the  planks  in 
place.  Proceeding  in  this  way,  a  bridge  is  speedily  laid 
across  the  entire  width  of  the  river.  Generally  every 
alternate  ponton  is  anchored  up-stream,  arid  every  fourth 
one  down-stream.  The  distance  of  the  anchors  from  the 
boats  should  be  ten  times  the  depth  of  the  water ;  other- 
wise, when  a  strain  is  brought  to  bear  upon  them,  the 
anchors  will  trip.  Spring-lines,  or  guy-ropes,  should  be 
run  from  the  ponton  near  the  banks  to  fastenings  on  shore. 

If  the  stream  is  narrow,  say  seventy-five  yards  wide, 
strong  cables  may  be  stretched  from  shore  to  shore,  and 
fastened  as  taut  as  possible.  The  pontons  may  be  fastened 
to  these  at  the  proper  intervals  by  short  lines,  thus  obviat- 
ing the  use  of  anchors. 

The  details  of  these  operations  have  been  organized  into 
a  regular  drill,  the  men  being  divided  into  suitable  detach- 
ments, the  files  numbered,  and  to  each  file  specific  duties 
assigned.  The  effect  of  this  is  to  cause  the  work  to 
advance  without  confusion  and  with  immense  speed.  120 
pontoniers  ought  to  construct  a  bridge  from  100  yards  to 
110  yards  long  in  about  one  hour. 

These  pontons  of  equipage  are  wooden  boats  31  feet  long 
and  6  feet  wide.  Besides  these  there  are  smaller  ones  cov- 
ered with  canvas,  which  go  to  form  bridges  for  advanced- 
guards  and  light-cavalry  expeditions. 


86  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

These  pontons  are  composed  of  two  side-frames,,  21  feet 
long  by  2  feet  4  inches  deep ;  they  are  connected  by  mov- 
able transoms.  The  pieces  are  of  4-inch  scantlings  of  strong 
but  light  pine.  The  ponton  is  set  up  by  placing  the  side- 
frames  parallel,  putting  the  transoms  in  place,  and  lashing 
them.  The  canvas  cover  is  then  drawn  over  the  frame  and 
lashed  fast ;  the  canvas  should  be  painted  black. 

The  canvas  ponton-train  is  the  kind  used  in  the  Russian 
military  service.  This  ponton  with  its  cover  complete 
weighs  720  pounds,  and  has  a  flotation  of  13,428  pounds. 
The  weight  of  the  flooring,  etc.,  of  one  bay  is  1,476  pounds. 

If  there  should  be  a  probability  of  the  enemy  sending 
down  floating  bodies  with  a  design  to  destroy  the  bridges, 
certain  sections  should  be  so  constructed  that  they  may  be 
promptly  detached,  making  passageways  or  draws  through 
which  the  floating  bodies  may  be  allowed  to  pass;  after 
which  the  detached  sections  may  be  replaced.  The  num- 
ber of  these  draws  must  be  proportioned  to  the  probable 
number  of  floating  bodies  to  be  sent  down. 

If  the  river  has  tributaries  flowing  from  our  side  suffi- 
ciently large,  it  may  be  found  convenient  to  construct  in 
them  portions,  or  even  the  whole,  of  the  bridge,  and  to  float 
it  down  to  the  place  of  crossing ;  in  this  way  most  of  the 
work  could  be  done  without  hindrance  from  the  enemy. 
Thus  after  the  battle  of  Essleng  a  bridge  was  constructed 
under  shelter  of  Alexander  Island,  and  at  the  proper  time 
floated  down ;  and  in  a  few  minutes  put  into  position  across 
to  left  fork  of  the  Danube. 

Bridges  on  Country  Boats. — Inasmuch  as  these   boats 


MILITARY   BRIDGES   IN   GENERAL.  87 

will  be  of  different  sizes  and  shapes,  some  adjustments  will 
become  necessary.  Those  of  the  same  size  should  be  ar- 
ranged together,  to  prevent  sudden  changes  of  level,  or 
steps,  in  the  roadway,  and  the  long  and  narrow  ones 
ought  to  be  placed  in  the  current;  whereas  those  upon 
which  the  current  would  take  a  great  hold  should  be  in 
the  still  water. 

If  any  of.  the  boats  should  be  found  too  weak,  they  can 
be  strengthened  by  fastening  cross-pieces  on  them ;  and  on 
these  cross-pieces  should  be  fastened  three  string-pieces, 
one  over  the  axis  of  the  boat,  and  the  other  two  parallel 
and  near  the  gunwales.  These  pieces,  will  receive  the 
balks  of  the  bridge.  When  a  boat  is  found  to  be  too  low, 
a  trestle  may  be  securely  fastened  in  it,  and  of  sufficient 
height  to  come  up  to  the  level  of  the  balks.  The  balk,  or 
beams,  may  be  secured  by  lashing,  by  spikes,  or  by  cramp- 
ing-irons.  If  anchors  are  wanting,  the  boats  may  be 
moored  to  fixed  points,  to  rocks,  to  sunken  mill-stones, 
to  boxes  filled  with  stone,  etc. 

A  justly  celebrated  bridge  was  that  made  by  Napo- 
leon in  1809  by  main  force  across  the  Danube.  With 
but  slender  resources,  the  French  troops  constructed,  over 
the  three  channels  of  the  Danube,  bridges  near  1,000 
yards  in  extent,  and  in  the  presence  of  an  enemy  160,000 
strong ! 

Bridges  on  Rafts  of  Logs.  —  These  bridges  have  the  great 
advantage  of  not  being  liable  to  be  sunk  by  the  enemy's 
fire,  and  the  disadvantage  of  taking  a  long  time  to  be  built, 
of  requiring  a  great  deal  of  timber,  of  presenting  a  large 


88  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

surface  to  the  action  of  the  current,,  and  of  being  unwieldy 
and  difficult  to  place  in  position.  They  should  never  be 
placed  in  positions  where  the  current  flows  more  than  two 
yards  per  second. 

The  lightest  woods,  such  as  willow,  fir,  poplar,  cotton- 
wood,  birch,  and  those  woods  of  which  the  specific  gravity 
is  considerably  less  than  that  of  water,  should  be  chosen. 
The  stability  of  rafts  is  greater  as  they  are  more  oblong  in 
shape  :  hence  long  logs  should  be  chosen ;  and  when  they 
cannot  be  had  of  sufficient  length,  two  may  be  spliced 
together.  Those  ordinarily  used  for  rafts  are  35  to  45  feet 
long,  and  about  1  foot  in  diameter ;  their  number  is  deter- 
mined by  the  specific  gravity  of  the  wood,  the  volume  of 
the  logs,  and  the  weight  to  be  borne. 

The  volume  may  be  determined  approximately  by  the  following  formula : 
JF=  0.785  L  _D2 ;  in  which  Fis  the  volume,  L  the  length  of  the  log,  and  D 
the  diameter  at  the  middle ;  or  F=  L  C2.  0.0795,  in  which  C  is  the  girth 
or  circumference  at  the  middle  point. 

To  FIND  THE  POWER  OF  FLOTATION.  —  Weigh  a  cubic  foot  of  the 
wood,  subtract  this  weight  from  62J  pounds,  and  the  remainder  is  the  flota- 
tion of  a  cubic  foot. 

Knowing,  then,  the  flotation  of  a  single  log,  and  also  the 
weight  of  the  bridge-timbers  of  one  bay,  as  well  as  the 
greatest  weight  that  will  ever  be  on  it  at  any  one  time,  we 
can  easily  calculate  the  number  of  logs  to  be  in  each  raft. 

The  result  of  this  calculation,  however,  should  be  in- 
creased by  two  or  three  logs,  to  make  up  for  the  loss  of 
buoyancy  by  imbibing  water  or  becoming  soaked.  This 
can  be  pretty  well  remedied  by  painting  or  tarring  the  ends 


MILITARY  BRIDGES   IN   GENERAL.  89 

of  the  logs.  Before  this  is  done  the  up-stream  ends  should 
be  cut  whistle-shape,  or  like  the  bow  of  a  scow,  to  present 
less  resistance  to  the  water.  For  the  same  reason  the  plan 
of  the  upper  end  of  the  raft  should  be  a  salient  angle,  and 
the  lower  end  a  re-entrant  angle.  The  logs  should  be 
neatly  trimmed  before  being  thrown  into  the  water  for 
building ;  they  are  then  assembled  in  the  rafts,  butts  and 
tops  alternating,  and  are  fastened  together  by  three  or  four 
cross-pieces  spiked  or  pinned  to  the  logs.  These  cross- 
pieces  are  scantlings  or  saplings,  and  they  should  have  a 
good  bearing  on  the  logs,  the  tops  of  which  are  flattened  or 
countersunk  for  that  purpose.  On  top  of  the  cross-pieces 
others  running  lengthwise  are  placed,  to  receive  the  balks 
of  the  roadway,  which  should  be  elevated  enough  to  clear 
the  waves  and  to  allow  ordinary  floating  bodies  to  pass 
under.  If  draws  are  necessary,  they  must  be  made  of 
boats,  as  being  more  easy  to  take  out  and  replace. 

In  1796  the  French  army,  having  no  bridge  equipage, 
constructed  one  of  rafts  across  the  Adige,  near  Hoveredo, 
which  had  a  draw  of  two  boats  near  the  middle.  That 
bridge  was  125  yards  long;  the  rafts  were  48  feet  long  by 
16  wide.  Being  well  made,  it  lasted  a  long  time,  and 
was  taken  and  retaken  several  times  by  the  Austrians  and 
French. 

Bridges  on  Rafts  of  Casks,  Boxes,  and  Skins.  —  These 
bridges  will  only  suit  on  small  streams  far  from  the  enemy, 
because  they  are  easily  destroyed.  A  framework  is  prepared, 
rectangular  in  plan,  having  four  longitudinal  pieces  25  feet 
long,  connected  by  four  cross-pieces  from  6  to  9  feet  in 


90  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

length.  Two  of  the  long  pieces  are  near  to  either  edge  of 
the  raft,  being  placed  apart  a  little  more  than  the  bung 
diameter  of  the  casks,  which  are  placed  under  and  in  this 
rectangular  space,  end  to  end,  with  their  bungs  up,  so  that 
when  they  leak  hand-pumps  may  be  inserted  to  pump 
them  out.  In  this  position  they  are  lashed  fast,  and  make 
a  raft  of  great  buoyancy.  A  similar  raft  may  be  made 
of  boxes  which  have  been  calked  and  painted  to  make  them 
water-tight. 

The  rafts  thus  formed  of  casks  or  boxes  will  be  placed  at 
proper  intervals  for  bridge-supports,  and  the  roadway  will 
then  be  built  upon  them  as  has  been  explained  for  rafts  of 
logs.  In  some  countries,  —  as  Spain,  Italy,  and  Southern 
France,  —  a  multitude  of  wine-bags,  or  bottles  formed  out 
of  cattle-skins,  are  found.  These,  when  made  air-tight  and 
inflated  with  air,  make  bridge-supports  suitable  for  light 
bridges. 

Trestle-Bridges.  —  This  kind  of  bridge  is  suitable  over 
shallow  streams  with  firm  bottoms.  The  water  ought  not 
to  be  over  9  feet  deep,  and  the  current  not  swifter  than  5 
feet  per  second.  Such  bridges  have  the  advantage  of  not 
requiring  much  material  for  their  construction,  which  ma- 
terial can  be  brought  from  the  neighboring  forests  and 
houses.  These  trestles  are  a  large  kind  of  carpenter's 
horses,  made  of  light  wood  so  as  to  be  easily  handled. 

They  are  placed  in  the  water  at  intervals  of  12  to  15 
feet/  with  their  lengths  in  the  direction  of  the  current. 
On  these  trestles  are  laid  the  balks  which  support  the  road- 
way. They  are  also  of  admirable  utility  in  constructing 


MILITARY   BRIDGES   IN   GENERAL.  91 

bridges  over  deep  ravines,  where  wagons  might  be  stalled 
and  the  march  of  an  army  delayed.  In  a  country 
the  topographical  features  of  which  are  like  those  of  Cali- 
fornia, where  these  gulches  are  common,  this  would  be  of 
high  importance. 

Should  the  bottom  of  a  stream  be  boggy,  the  feet  of  the 
trestles  would  sink  into  it ;  this  can  be  obviated  by  a  suit- 
able shoe  fastened  to  them,  or  mud-sills  secured  beneath. 

Where  the  water  is  not  too  deep,  the  men  can  wade  in  to 
place  the  trestles ;  but  when  the  depth  of  the  stream  for- 
bids, the  bridge  will  have  to  advance  from  one  shore,  being 
successively  built  from  its  front  end. 

Two  long  beams  moving  on  a  roller  can  be  used.  Place 
the  trestles  on  their  front  ends,  and  roll  forward  until  the 
trestle  has  come  over  its  place,  and  then  lower  it  into  its 
position  with  ropes.  Or  else  twx>  skids  may  be  used, 
reaching  down  to  the  plow  of  the  next  trestle,  which  is 
slided  down  the  skids  to  place,  and  set  upon  its  legs  by 
hauling  in  on  ropes  and  pushing  out  with  long  poles. 
Upon  the  trestles  when  in  position  are  laid  the  balks,  over- 
lapping about  a  yard,  and  they  are  securely  lashed  to  the 
trestles  and  to  each  other.  If  a  draw  is  necessary,  it  must 
be  of  boats. 

The  crossing  of  the  Beresina,  in  November,  1812,  on  the 
disastrous  retreat  of  Napoleon's  grand  army  .out  of  Russia, 
was  made  by  two  trestle-bridges  about  200  yards  apart, 
and  being  about  100  yards  long.  The  trestles  were  from  3 
feet  to  9  feet  in  height,  and  their  cap-pieces  were  14  feet 
long. 


92  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

They  were  constructed  with  lumber  obtained  by  demol- 
ishing houses  in  the  village  of  Wesselowo,  and  were  placed 
about  14  feet  apart.  In  place  of  balks  they  used  saplings 
about  5  inches  in  diameter,  and  they  used  saplings  for 
flooring  of  one  of  the  bridges.  The  other  had  a  plank 
floor,  the  planks  being  taken  from  the  houses  of  the  vil- 
lage. These  bridges  would  have  amply  sufficed  for  the 
passage  of  the  whole  army,  had  good  order  been  main- 
tained; but  all  discipline  being  lost,  vast  crowds  poured 
upon  the  bridges,  and  produced  disasters  unexampled  in 
history.  The  pontoniers,  although  worn  out  by  a  forced 
march,  constructed  these  bridges  in  the  space  of  twenty- 
four  hours ;  they  were  compelled  to  swim  amid  the  ice 
to  place  and  repair  the  trestles,  and  their  generous  de- 
votion cost  most  of  them  their  lives. 

Preservation  of  Bridges.  —-To  defend  a  bridge  from 
floating  bodies,  launched  by  the  enemy  or  drifting  on  the 
current,  the  following  means  are  employed :  — 

1.  A  lookout  guard  is  stationed  on  the  river,  about 
1,000  yards  above,  and  this  guard  is  provided  with  skiffs, 
long  lines,  anchors,  grapnels,  cramping-irons  or  staples, 
with  mallets  to  drive  them,  boat-hooks,  etc. 

These  boats,  stationed  at  intervals  one  above  the  other, 
are  rowed  to  any  floating  body  that  comes  along ;  one  end 
of  a  line  is  fastened  to  it,  and  the  other  sent  ashore  or  fas- 
tened to  a  fixed  point.  The  floating  bodies  are  either  towed 
ashore  or  swung  round  on  to  the  shore  by  the  action  of  the 
current.  If  some  of  the  floating  bodies  elude  these  precau- 
tions, they  should  be  steered  towards  the  draws  in  the 


MILITARY   BRIDGES   IN   GENERAL.  93 

bridge,,  and  the  sentinel  on  the  bridge  signaled  to  open  the 
draws. 

2.  A  floating  stockade  or  boom  is  sometimes  stretched 
diagonally  across  the  river,  so  as  to  prevent  the  descent  of 
the  floating  bodies,,  and  run  them  ashore.     A  boom  is  a 
long  chain  of  large  logs,  floating  in  the  water  with  their 
ends  fastened  together  by  short  chains ;  each  log  ought  to 
be  anchored.     The  angle  made  by  the  boom  with  the  cur- 
rent should  be  about  22°,  which  requires  its  length  to  be 
2 1  the  width  of  the  river.     The  boom  is  laid  thus  oblique 
so  as  not  to  receive  a  square  shock  from  the  floating  bodies, 
and  to  direct  them  ashore. 

3.  The  ends  of  the  bridge  should  be  movable,  so  as  to 
adjust  to  sudden  rising  or  falling  of  the  water. 

Passage  of  Bridges.  —  Military  bridges  being  liable  to 
many  accidents,  there  ought  to  be  as  many  of  them  as  pos- 
sible. It  is  dangerous  to  risk  everything  upon  only  one ; 
the  slightest  accident  might  compromise  the  troops  who 
have  already  passed.  The  unstable  nature  of  these  com- 
munications requires  the  utmost  precaution.  A  sentinel 
should  be  stationed  at  each  end  of  the  bridge,  and  others 
along  it  at  such  intervals  that  they  can  see  and  hear  every- 
thing that  transpires,  and  carry  out  and  enforce  the  follow- 
ing regulations :  — 

Infantry  should  march  by  the  flank  without  beat  of 
drum  and  in  silence,  being  careful  not  to  preserve  the 
lock-step  while  on  the  bridge,  because  it  would  set  the 
bridge  to  oscillating  back  and  forth,  and  injure  it  se- 
riously. 


94  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

If  this  motion  should  start,  the  troops  should  halt,  and 
remain  standing  until  it  subsides. 

Cavalry  should  dismount,  and  each  man  lead  his  horse 
with  a  short  rein,  and  prevent  his  trotting. 

Care  must  be  taken  not  to  overload  the  bridge;  fresh 
troops  not  being  allowed  to  come  on  before  those  already 
crossing  shall  have  completed  the  passage. 

Such  interval  should  be  kept  between  the  different  bod- 
ies, that  there  will  be  no  stopping  and  crowding  at  the 
end  of  the  bridge.  Carriages  in  single  file  and  twenty 
paces  apart  should  march  along  the  middle  line  of  the 
bridge ;  all  drivers  except  those  on  the  wheel-horses  dis- 
mounted and  leading.  If  any  of  the  carriages  should  be 
too  heavily  loaded,  a  part  of  the  load  may  be  taken  off ;  if 
one  should  break  down  on  the  roadway,  the  team  should  be 
promptly  unhitched,  the  load  stored  in  the  nearest  boats, 
and  the  carriage  thrown  overboard. 

Infantry  should  never  be  mingled  with  artillery  or  cav- 
alry in  crossing  at  the  same  time.  The  troops  should 
instantly  obey  the  command  "  Halt !  "  given  by  a  sentinel, 
and  resume  the  march  only  when  commanded  to  do  so.  If 
there  should  be  several  bridges,  one  should  be  exclusively 
for  infantry,  and  another  for  cavalry  or  carriages.  If  there 
is  a  ford,  also,  the  cavalry  should  cross  there  in  preference. 

Should  there  be  a  herd  of  beef  cattle  along  with  the 
army,  they  should  be  crossed  in  lots,  or  five  or  six  at  a  time. 
It  being  the  nature  of  these  animals  to  huddle  together 
in  a  crowd  when  frightened,  if  there  were  too  many  to- 
gether they  would  ruin  the  bridge.  Besides,  as  they  nat- 


MILITARY   BRIDGES   IN   GENERAL.  95 

urally  swim  well,  they  should  be  got  across  by  swimming 
when  practicable.  No  fires,  not  even  lighted  pipes  or 
cigars,  should  be  allowed  on  the  bridge,  for  fear  of  burning 
it,  or  of  explosions. 

The  sentinels  must  keep  a  sharp  lookout  for  signals 
from  above,  reporting  them  or  anything  else  of  unusual 
nature  to  the  officer  of  the  bridge.  They  either  halt 
troops  or  accelerate  their  march  as  circumstances  may 
demand. 

On  ponton-bridges,  infantry  march  in  two  ranks,  or 
even  three  if  the  bays  are  not  more  than  fifteen  feet  apart, 
cavalry  in  one  rank,  and  the  heavier  field-pieces  should 
be  drawn  by  only  four  horses. 

A  detachment  should  be  detailed  to  tighten  the  cords, 
to  tend  the  draws,  to  raise  the  anchors  now  and  then  lest 
they  become  too  deeply  imbedded,  and  to  make  all  the 
little  repairs  that  may  be  requisite.  If  the  bridge  is  likely 
to  be  frozen  up,  care  must  be  taken  to  have  it  dismantled 
and  removed  in  time,  lest  when  the  thaw  comes  it  should 
be  carried  away.  And  if  the  bridge  is  destined  to  re- 
main, the  ice  must  be  broken  around  the  supports  every 
day. 

Flying-Bridges.  —  By  this  term  we  designate  a  boat,  a 
draw,  or  a  raft,  hel'd  by  a  hawser  or  chain,  which  prevents 
it  descending  the  river,  and  which  is  caused  to  go  from 
one  bank  to  the  other  by  being  held  by  a  rudder  oblique 
to  the  current.  Flying-bridges  have  the  advantage  of 
being  easy  to  construct,  but  they  do  not  afford  a  continu- 
ous communication,  and  can  serve  but  a  small  body  of 


96  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

troops.  Experience  has  shown  that  the  length  of  the 
cable  should  be  one  and  a  half  to  two  times  the  width  of 
the  river.  The  cable  is  kept  above  the  water  by  floats* 
such  as  casks,,  or  boats,  at  suitable  intervals.  Thirty-six 
men  can  in  an  hour  construct  a  flying-bridge  on  six  boats 
of  equipage,  which  would  carry  over  two  hundred  and 'fifty 
men,  or  two  pieces  of  artillery  with  twelve  horses.  This 
bridge  would  cross  a  stream  of  two  hundred  yards'  width 
in  a  'minute  and  a  half. 

We  will  close  this  chapter  by  a  few  hints  as  to  the 
repair  and  destruction  of  bridges.  In  general,  bridges  are 
repaired  by  the  same  means  which  were  employed  in  their 
construction.  Bridges  upon  piles  are  frequently  made  in 
the  rear  of  an  army  to  keep  open  communication  when  it 
is  necessary  to  take  up  our  ponton-bridges  and  send  them 
forward  with  the  army. 

Nothing  need  be  said  of  the  repair  or  construction  of 
pile-bridges,  for  that  operation  is  going  on  about  the 
wharves  of  our  cities  all  the  time.  When  a  masonry- 
bridge  has  been  cut  by  the  enemy,  we  can  make  a  tempo- 
rary wooden  bridge  over  the  gap.  If  the  cut  is  too  wide 
for  our  beams  to  reach,  intermediate  supports  may  be 
made  by  piles,  trestles,  or  boats. 

Destruction  of  Bridges.  —  If  we  are  compelled  to  abandon 
a  bridge,  it  should  be  sunk,  burnt,  or  blown  up.  It  may  be 
burnt  by  putting  straw,  tarred  fascines,  or  dry  sticks  under- 
neath several  places  and  setting  fire  at  once.  If  there  is 
not  time  for  this,  a  large  fire  should  be  built  in  the  road- 
way, taking  up  planks  and  piling  on.  This  would  detain 


MILITARY   BRIDGES   IN   GENERAL.  97 

the  enemy  some  time.  Bridges  may  be  blown  up  by 
fastening  barrels  of, powder  or  loaded  shells  under  the 
roadway,  and  firing  them  by  slow-match  or  portfires. 

Bridges  may  be  sunk  by  knocking  holes  in  the  boats,  at 
the  same  time  cutting  the  lines  and  throwing  the  plank 
overboard.  Masonry-bridges  are  blown  up  with  powder ; 
several  arches  ought  to  be  blown  up  at  once,  to  make  the 
repair  more  difficult.  When  greatly  pressed  for  time,  sev- 
eral hundred-pound  barrels  should  be  suspended  beneath 
an  arch,  and  fired  simultaneously. 

Destruction  of  the  Enemy's  Bridges.  —  This  is  an  opera- 
tion of  the  highest  importance,  especially  when  we  are  resist- 
ing an  attack  which  he  makes  by  main  force.  If  we  can 
succeed  in  destroying  his  bridge  after  a  portion  of  his  troops 
have  crossed,  we  will  thereby  cut  him  in  two,  and  the 
result  should  be  a  brilliant  victory  in  our  favor.  Different 
means  are  employed  for  the  destruction  of  the  enemy's 
bridges  :  1st.  Bafts  and  boats  heavily  loaded  should  be 
sent  down  the  current  against  the  bridge,  to  destroy  it  by 
the  shock;  these  floating  bodies  should  have  in  front  a 
strong  mast,  well  stayed,  and  of  a  height  sufficient  to  en- 
counter the  bridge  and  strike  it  with  violence.  2d.  Use 
may  be  made  of  fire-boats  loaded  with  incendiary  mate- 
rials and  well  supplied  with  shells  and  hand-grenades  which 
explode  from  time  to  time,  and  intimidate  any  who  might 
wish  to  approach  the  fire-boat.  3d.  Infernal-machines, 
destined  to  destroy  the  bridge  by  their  explosion,  may 
be  brought  into  service.  They  consist  of  boats  provided 
with  strong  chambers  of  frame-work  or  iron  filled  with 


98  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

powder,  and  weighted  down  by  heavy  bodies  to  increase 
the  force  of  the  explosion. 

Fire  is  communicated  by  a  pistol  or  musket,  the  muzzle 
of  which  opens  into  the  powder,  the  hammer  being  cocked 
and  the  trigger  connected  with  a  lever,  which  when  it 
touches  the  bridge  will  draw  the  trigger  and  explode  the 
charge.  Barrels  and  boxes  filled  with  powder,  and  these 
or  other  arrangements  for  explosion,  ought  to  be  sent  down 
in  great  numbers,  and  particularly  in  the  night,  so  that 
some  will  surely  escape  the  guard  and  arrive  at  the  bridge. 
They  should  be  so  ballasted  as  to  keep  the  right  side  up. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

FIELD  FORTIFICATION, 

IN  military  language  any  construction  or  device  which, 
renders  a  position  to  be  held  by  troops  stronger  than 
it  was  left  by  nature  is  called  a  Fortification, 

The  proper  construction  of  fortification  is  called  the  art 
of  fortification ;  and  this  art  is  divided  into  two  great 
.  branches,  which  are  termed  respectively  Field- Fortification 
and  Permanent  Fortification.  These  terms  of  themselves 
immediately  suggest  the  principal  difference  between  the 
two  kinds  of  constructions ;  for  while  permanent  fortifica- 
tions are  made  at  such  places  as  are  of  enduring  importance, 
like  seaports  and  cities,  and  are  constructed  of  the  most 
lasting  materials  in  an  elaborate  manner,  field-fortifications 
are  constructed  hastily  of  earth,  with  the  addition  of  wood 
and  such  other  materials  as  are  furnished  by  the  locality, 
and  are  intended  only  to  subserve  the  purposes  of  a  cam- 
paign. 

We  will  here  confine  our  attention  solely  to  the  latter. 

Suppose  two  bodies  of  troops  equal  in  numbers,  courage, 
discipline,  skill,  and  equipment  to  meet  each  other  in  hostile 
array  upon  an  open  plain.  The  circumstances  are  equal;  but 
if  one  of  these  bodies  were  posted  on  a  hillside  it  would 


100  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

possess  an  evident  advantage  over  its  opponents,  who 
would  be  compelled  to  climb  the  hill  to  reach  it.  The 
party  on  the  hill  would  have  called  into  their  aid  the  force 
of  gravity,  —  no  inconsiderable  force,  —  and  the  assailants 
would  be  under  both  a  moral  and  physical  disadvantage. 

If,  moreover,  the  party  on  the  hill  had  selected  a  position 
where  there  was  a  ravine  or  ditch  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  it 
is  easy  to  see  that  their  position  would  be  yet  stronger. 
Again,  should  they  withdraw  behind  the  crest  of  the  hill, 
to  such  a  distance  that,  while  they  could  still  see  and  fire 
upon  their  enemy  as  he  was  struggling  across  the  creek  or 
ditch  and  was  climbing  the  hillside,  and  yet  have  their 
persons  —  save  their  heads  and  shoulders  —  screened  from 
the  missiles  of  the  enemy  by  the  crest  of  the  hill,  it  is  evident 
that  they  would  possess  a  third  great  advantage  over  their 
assailants. 

In  these  simple  considerations  can  be  discovered  the 
principal  feature  of  a  fortification.  To  make  a  fortification 
we  must  make  the  hillside,  the  sheltering  crest,  and  the 
obstructive  ditch,  where  none  previously  existed.  One  of 
the  simplest  instances  of  a  fortification  would  be  had  by 
digging  a  trench  or  ditch  in  front  of  a  straight  line  of  bat- 
tle, throwing  the  dirt  on  the  side  from  the  enemy,  and  out 
of  it  forming  an  embankment  or  breast-height,  behind 
which  our  own  troops  could  stand,  and  over  which  they 
would  fire  upon  the  approaching  enemy. 

I  have  supposed  a  case  in  which  the  contending  forces 
were  equal  in  all  respects.  But  fortifications  are  resorted 
to  most  generally  by  the  weaker,  when  in  presence  of  a 


FIELD   FORTIFICATION.  101 

stronger  force,  —  weaker,  be  it  noted,  in  absolute  efficiency, 
for  it  often  happens  that  a  force  numerically  the  greater 
is,  by  reason  of  inferior  equipment,  discipline,  or  morale, 
really  weaker  than  its  opponent. 

The  ground-plan  of  a  fortification  may  have  a  multitude 
of  shapes,  according  to  varying  circumstances  of  locality 
and  design  in  view ;  but  the  cross-section  of  the  works,  or 
profile  as  it  is  generally  called,  is  essentially  the  same  in 
all,  consisting  of  the  embankment,  or  parapet)  and  the 
ditch. 

When  defensive  works  are  thrown  up  very  hastily,  and 
are  intended  merely  to  receive  battle  in,  they  are  constructed 
by  digging  a  slighter  ditch,  and  the  dirt  is  thrown  on  the 
side  towards  the  enemy.  The  troops  in  this  case  stand  in 
the  ditch,  and  derive  their  shelter  partly  from  the  ditch  and 
partly  from  the  dirt  thrown  up  on  its  bank.  This  kind  of 
intrenchment  received,  during  the  late  civil  war  in  the 
United  States,  the  name  of  rifle-pits,  but  that  term  was 
previously  applied,  especially  by  the  Allies  at  the  siege  of 
Sebastopol,  to  small  round  excavations  dug  by  single  rifle- 
men, or  bodies  of  two  or  three  riflemen,  who  crept  forward 
during  the  night  and  made  their  lodgements,  ready  to  open 
on  the  enemy  at  daybreak.  These  pitmen  were  sharp- 
shooters to  pick  off  officers,  cannoneers,  etc. 

But  the  usual  case  is  where  the  parapet  is  on  the  side  of 
the  ditch  from  the  enemy. 

The  following  is  a  representation  of  the  profile  of  a  para- 
pet and  ditch.  F  G,  the  bottom  of  the  ditch,  is  nine  feet 
ten  inches  wide ;  while  the  top  E  H  is  eighteen  feet.  It  is 


MILITARY  LESSONS. 


PROFILE    OF    PARAPET    AND    DITCH. 


seven  feet  deep;  the  interior  crest  A  is  eight  feet  above 
the  terre-plein,  or  natural  surface ;  the  exterior  crest  C  is 
five  feet  six  inches  above  the  same.  B  0  is  the  banquette 
treacly  four  feet  wide,  and  at  a  perpendicular  distance  below 
the  interior  crest  of  four  feet  three  inches.  The  banquette 
slope  is  the  ramp  falling  from  B  rearwards  to  the  terre- 
plein.  The  banquette- slope  and  tread  are  made  only  when 
the  parapet  is  too  high  for  a  man  standing  on  the  natural 
surface  to  shoot  over.  0  A  is  the  interior  slope  ;  A  C,  the 
superior  slope,  and  C  D  is  the  exterior  slope ;  D  E  is  the 
ber m  ;  E  F  is  the  scarp,  and  G  H  is  the  counter-scarp. 

By  prolonging  the  line  of  the  superior  slope  A  C,  it  will 
be  observed  that  a  ball  from  a  musket  lying  on  that  line 
would  strike  the  ground  beyond  the  ditch  at  M,  and  con- 
sequently all  the  space  within  the  angle  H  M  L  would  be 
dead  space,  or  not  attainable  by  missiles  fired  from  the 
works.  To  remedy  this,  another  embankment  having  the 
gentle  inclination  of  the  superior  slope  is  made  upon  the 
counter-scarp  bank  of  the  ditch,  which  has  the  effect  of 
exposing  the  entire  person  of  the  enemy  as  he  approaches. 
This  embankment  in  front  of  the  ditch  is  called  the  glacis. 

Plan.  —  "When  the  enemy  has  no  choice  but  to  approach 


FIELD   FORTIFICATION.  103 

directly  from  the  front,  a  straight  parapet  and  ditch  will 
make  a  good  defence ;  but  this  could  be  improved  by  flanks 
running  forward  from  the  right  and  left  of  the  line  so  as  to 
bring  a  cross-fire  on  the  enemy  as  he  approached. 

But  .the  enemy  certainly  will  not  approach  directly  from 
the  front  if  lie  can  avoid  it,  but  will  if  possible  march 
around  the  flanks  of  our  work  and  come  upon  us  in  the 
rear.  This  operation  is  called  turning  the  work,  and 
neutralizes  or  destroys  its  utility.  If  he  cannot  succeed 
in  turning  the  work  he  will  at  least  endeavor  to  come  upon 
it  in  a  slanting  direction,  that  is,  with  his  line  of  march 
making  a  very  small  angle  with  the  direction  of  the  para- 
pet ;  in  which  case  very  little  of  our  fire  could  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  him. 

This  would  be  true  even  of  the  musketry-fire,  but  still 
more  so  of  that  from  the  artillery,  because  the  pieces  with 
which  field-fortifications  are  usually  armed  are  too  small  to 
fire  in  barbette  (i.  e.  over  the  top  of  the  parapet),  but  are 
fired  through  notches  or  troughs  cut  down  in  the  parapet, 
which  are  named  embrasures. 

As  these  embrasures  necessarily  allow  only  a  limited 
field  of  firey  or  sweep  to  the  right  and  left  for  the  cannon, 
they  cannot  be  brought  to  bear  upon  a  column  of  troops 
advancing  in  a  slanting  direction.  To  avoid  the  incon- 
venience here  spoken  of,  deflections  are  made  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  parapet  to  produce  flanking  arrangements  that 
will  give  cross-fires,  of  which  more  will  be  said  anon. 

It  is  only  in  a  few  localities,  such  as  narrow  gorges, 
ravines,  and  streets,  that  the  enemy  would  be  compelled  to 


104 


MILITARY  LESSONS. 


approach  from  the  front.  The  general  case  is  that  he  can 
turn  a  line  of  works,,  especially  if  it  is  a  short  one.  To 
secure  ourselves  against  this  disaster,  it  is  a  natural  expe- 
dient to  fortify  in  all  directions,  thus  inclosing  the  position 
to  be  fortified.  A  plan  which  would  naturally  suggest  it- 
self would  be  a  square  or  a  parallelogram. 


But  upon  inspecting  such  a  plan  it  will  be  seen  that  if  the 
assailant  approaches  along  the  prolongations  of  the  diago- 
nals, in  other  words,  marches  upon  the  corners,  he  would 
be  exposed  to  a  feeble  fire.  The  angles  included  between 
the  arrow-heads  are  called  Sectors-without-fire. 

To  get  rid  of  these  sectors-without-fire  we  must  resort  to 
what  are  called  Flanked  Dispositions.  In  these,  certain 
portions  of  the  work  are  thrown  forward  towards  the  enemy 
and  are  called  Advanced  Parts,  while  others  are  held  back 
and  are  called  retired  parts.  Such  a  disposition  is  shown 
in  the  following  diagram. 


FIELD   FORTIFICATION. 


105 


Wherein  0  A  B  and  E  F  P  are  the  advanced  parts,  and 
B  CDJEztfQ  the  retired  parts,  0  A  and  A  B  are  the  faces,  as 
are  also  E  F  and  F  P ;  B  C  and  D  E  are  the  flanks,  and 
C  D  is  the  curtain.  A  D  and  (7  7^  are  the  lines  of  defence  ; 
0  A  B  and  E  F  P  are  the  salient  angles  ;  B  C  D  and  J?  (7 
-#  are  re-entering  angles,  and  A  D  E  and  F  C  B  are  angles 
of  defence. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  angle  between  the  arrow-heads 
at  F  is  swept  by  a  fire  from  the  flank  B  C,  and  also  from  a 
flank  perpendicular  to  F  P  prolonged,  and  which  is  not 
shown  in  the  figure.  And  so  of  the  other  sectors-witliout- 
fire. 

The  face*  may  vary  in  length  from  thirty  to  eighty  yards, 
the  flanks  from  twenty  to  forty  yards;  and  the  curtain 
should  never  be  less  than  twelve  times  the  relief,  which  is 
the  height  of  the  interior  crest  above  the  bottom  of  the 
ditch. 

The  kind  of  a  front  which  we  have  just  described  is 
called  a  Bastioned  Front.  The  bastion  front  is  the  best  for 
an  inclosed  fort,  because  not  only  are  the  sectors-without- 
5* 


106 


MILITARY  LESSONS. 


fire  remedied,  but  the  ditches  are  thoroughly  swept  by  the 
fire  of  the  garrison. 

In  the  square  redoubt  before  spoken  of  the  sectors-with- 

out-fire  may  be  pretty  well 
remedied  by  making  what  are 
called  Pan-coupees,  the  cor- 
ners being  cut  off,  and  re- 
placed by  shoulders,  the  fire 
from  which  will  be  in  the 
directions  of  the  diagonals; 
but  still  the  ditches  are  dead 
spaces,  in  which  the  enemy, 
once  arrived  there,  is  comparatively  secure. 

Besides  these  are  star  forts,  which  give  something  of  a 
flanking  arrangement,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  figure  above. 

Not  only  may  flanking  dispositions  be  used  for  isolated 
positions,  but  also  to  connect  and  secure  the  different  parts 
of  long  lines  which  are  used  to  strengthen  extended  posi- 
tions. 

If  we  have  a  position  where  the  flanks  are  secure  from 
being  turned,  by  reason  of  precipices,  impassable  moun- 
tains, water  or  morasses,  it  may  be  fortified  by  a  Cre- 
maillere  or  Indented  Line. 


FIELD  FORTIFICATION. 


107 


Should  the  position  be  assailable  not  only  in  front  but 
on  the  flanks,  while  the  rear  is  secure,  there  are  various 
other  dispositions  which  can  be  used,  according  to  locality 


A 


and  other  circumstances.  We  may  mention  the  Redan, 
the  Lunette,  and  the  Priest-cap,  or  Swallow-tail. 

Long  lines  may  be  secured  and  connected  redans,  lunettes, 
and  cremailleres,  or  any  combination  of  them  which  may  be 
found  expedient.  There  are  continuous  lines,  and  lines 
with  intervals.  The  first  have  no  openings  through  which 
the  enemy  might  penetrate,  except  a  few  for  the  conven- 
ience of  the  defenders,  and  these  are  usually  covered  and 
concealed  from  view  by  small  redans  in  front  of  them. 

The  second  kind  are  marked  by  detached  forts,  which  are 
separated  by  wide  intervals,  the  intervening  spaces  being 
defended  only  by  cross-fires  from  the  forts.  The  Eedan 
Line  is  a  series  of  redans  connected  by  curtains,  —  the  faces 
of  the  redans  about  60  yards  long  and  the  curtains  about 
180  yards.  In  this  arrangement  the  ditches  are  not  flanked, 
or  swept  by  our  fire ;  this  defect  is  remedied  by  changing 
the  curtains  from  long  straight  lines  to  broken  ones,  con- 
'  stituting  new  redans,  with  their  faces  perpendicular  to  those 
of  the  original  redans.  This  is  called  the  Tenaille  Line. 


108  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

A  great  variety  of  combinations  of  lines  has  been  used 
by  different  engineers,  but  it  would  not  profit  to  enter  into 
an  examination  of  them  here. 

Tete-de-Pont.  —  A  tete-de-pont,  or  bridge-head,  is  a  de- 
tached fort  placed  near  the  end  of  a  bridge  to  secure  the 
same.  Its  plan  may  be  a  redan  with  a  pan-coupee,  a 
lunette,  priest-cap,  or  any  form  suitable  to  the  locality. 
If  practicable,  it  should  be  supported  by  the  fire  of  bat- 
teries placed  on  the  opposite  shore,  which  shall  cross  in  its 
front,  and  sweep  along  its  flanks. 

Revetments.  —  When  the  slopes  of  any  of  the  embank- 
ments of  fortifications  are  not  steeper  than  the  natural  slope 
of  the  earth,  they  will  stand  and  do  very  good  service,  with 
no  other  preparation  than  packing  and  ramming;  but  to 
prevent  the  effect  of  rains,  it  is  well,  when  there  is  time, 
to  cover  the  surface  of  the  slope  with  sods  of  grass. 

These  sods  should  be  cut  from  a  sward  where  the  grass 
is  short  and  has  thickly  matted  roots;  they  should  be 
evenly  cut  in  rectangles,  and  laid  like  the  tiles  of  a  pave- 
ment. But  this  precaution,  which  is  optional  on  gentle 
slopes,  is  necessary  on  steep  ones,  —  like  the  interior  slope 
of  the  parapet,  the  scarp  and  counter-scarp  of  the  ditch. 

Any  facing  made  to  sustain  the  face  of  a  slope  is  called  a 
revetment.  It  may  be  of  sods,  stone,  or  wood,  and  also  of 
a  mixture  of  clay  and  earth ;  these  last  materials  are  mixed 
with  water  into  a  stiff  paste  or  mud,  and  laid  on  about  a 
foot  thick,  being  well  packed. 

Fascines.  —  A  fascine  is  a  cylindrical  bundle  of  rods  or 
twigs,  bound  together  or  wrapped  with  witkes.  They  are 


FIELD  FORTIFICATION.  109 

from  9  to  12  inches  in  diameter,  and  from  10  to  20  feet 
long. 

To  make  a  revetment  of  fascines,  say  for  the  interior 
slope,  the  first  layer  is  laid  horizontally  at  the  foot  of  the 
slope,  being  about  half  imbedded  below  the  banquette-tread, 
and  held  in  position  by  stakes  driven  into  them,  and  also 
by  having  withes  leading  to  anchoring-pickets  driven  into 
the  interior  of  the  parapet  at  intervals  of  a  few  feet.  On 
top  of  this  layer,  as  the  parapet  rises,  is  laid  another  layer 
of  fascines  fastened  to  the  anchoring-pickets  and  to  the  fas- 
cines below,  and  so  on  to  the  top. 

Hurdle  Revetments.  —  A  hurdle  revetment  is  made  by 
laying  parallel  poles  along  the  face  of  the  slope  and  in  its 
direction,  driving  them  into  the  earth  at  its  foot,  and  then 
making  a  kind  of  wicker-work  by  interlacing  twigs  or 
withes  with  the  poles.  The  poles  are  laid  as  if  they  had 
been  driven  in  an  upright  row  at  the  foot  of  the  interior 
slope  first,  and  then  inclined  over  until  they  lay  against 
that  slope. 

Gabions.  —  Gabions  are  sometimes  used  for  a  revetment. 
A  gabion  is  a  hollow  cylinder  of  basket-work,  made  of 
twigs.  They  are  set  on  top  of  each  other,  in  the  direction 
of  the  slope,  and  filled  with  earth. 

A  revetment  is  often  made  of  scantling  and  planks. 

Bags  filled  with  sand  are  often  used  to  form  a  revetment 
when  great  haste  is  necessary,  and  even  to  throw  up  a 
hasty  shelter  or  parapet.  But  as  the  bags  soon  rot,  they 
are  only  used  for  works  of  a  very  temporary  character. 

It  may  be  well  to  say  a  word  about  Powder-Magazines. 


110  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

Some  place  must  be  had,  of  course,  for  storing  the  ammu- 
nition. The  requisites  are  that  it  be  safe  from  fire,  the 
enemy's  shot,  and  dampness.  If  the  site  of  the  work  is 
dry  ground,  they  ought  to  be  placed  under  ground,  the  sides 
and  top  being  made  of  framed  work,  and  planks  or  fas- 
cines. The  vault,  may  be  about  6  feet  wide,  and  of  the 
same  height,  with  length  sufficient  to  hold  the  ammunition. 

On  the  top  of  these  should  be  a  thickness  of  6  feet  of 
earth,  and  the  entrance,  which  should  be  from  the  rear, 
should  have  a  splinter-proof  screen,  to  prevent  fragments 
of  the  enemy's  shells  from  entering  it.  Where  the  soil  is 
very  wet,  the  powder-magazines  are  sometimes  placed  in 
the  traverses. 

A  Traverse  is  a  short  embankment,  generally  made  with 
gabions,  which  run  perpendicularly  to  the  rear  from  the 
parapet.  When  traverses  are  used  there  are  always  several, 
and  their  object  is  to  prevent  the  splinters  of  the  enemy's 
shells  from  having  an  extended  range  up  and  down,  or  to 
the  right  and  left,  along  the  work.  Usually  two  pieces  of 
cannon  are  found  between  two  traverses.  The  traverses  ex- 
tend to  the  rear  only  far  enough  to  shelter  the  cannoniers. 

Palisades  are  forts  made  of  wooden  logs  set  into  the  earth 
in  an  upright  position  to  form  walls.  The  logs  are  hewn 
flat  on  the  sides  which  are  in  contact,  and  the  garrison  fire 
through  loop-holes  cut  between  the  logs.  There  may  be 
more  than  one  tier  of  loop-holes ;  the  men  firing  through 
the  upper  holes  while  standing  on  a  staging  constructed 
against  the  palisades,  and  upheld  by  a  parallel  row  of  posts 
about  six  feet  to  the  rear. 


FIELD   FORTIFICATON.  Ill 

Block-Houses  are  built  of  logs  either  upright  or  horizontal, 
and  often  of  two  thicknesses,  the  one  upright  and  the  other 
horizontal.  They  are  provided  with  loop-holes,  and  are 
sometimes  defended  by  a  ditch  with  a  draw-bridge.  Being 
usually  square  or  rectangular  in  plan,  they  have  sectors- 
without-fire. 

This  can  be  remedied  by  having  two  stories,  the  upper 
story  being  turned  around,  or  so  placed  that  its  walls  shall 
be  perpendicular  to  the  diagonals  of  the  lower  story.  With 
this  arrangement  the  fire  from  the  upper  story  will  entirely 
remove  the  sectors-without-fire. 

Obstacles.  —  It  may  be  well  to  cast  a  passing  glance  at 
some  of  the  devices  which  are  classified  under  this  heading. 
When  the  enemy  is  approaching  the  work  to  assault  it,  it 
is  desirable  to  reach  him  at  the  earliest  possible  moment 
with  our  projectiles,  and  to  detain  him  under  fire  as  long 
as  we  can.  With  this  view  we  cut  down  all  trees  within 
extreme  range  of  the  fort,  level  off  banks  and  small  hillocks 
behind  which  he  could  be  concealed  or  protected,  and  make 
whatever  arrangements  are  practicable  to  diminish  the  num- 
ber of  avenues  of  approach. 

If  the  routes  by  which  he  can  come  upon  the  work  are 
few,  his  men  will  be  more  massed  together,  and  therefore 
more  vulnerable,  while  we,  being  called  to  attend  to  but  a 
few  points,  will  be  able  to  bring  to  bear  a  greater  propor- 
tion of  strength  on  him. 

Among  the  obstacles  designed  to  detain  the  enemy  in 
front  of  the  work  are  ckevaux-de-frise>  trous-de-loups  or 

e/  '  J- 

military  pits,  crow's-feet,  mines,  abattis,  etc. 


112  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

A  Cheval-de-frise  is  a  log  or  scantling  bored  through  by 
augers,  the  alternate  holes  running  through  in  directions 
perpendicular  to  each  other.  Through  these  staves  or  poles 
are  passed  up  to  their  middle,  having  both  ends  shod  with 
pike  heads.  Crow's-feet  are  composed  of  several vsharp  iron 
spikes,  united  at  a  single  point,  but  all  pointing  outwards, 
so  that  when  thickly  scattered  on  the  ground  they  form  a 
serious  obstacle  to  the  march  of  troops. 

Abattis  are  trees  cut  down  and  laid  with  their  tops  to- 
wards the  enemy.  Only  the  smaller  branches  are  cut  off, 
while  the  longer  limbs  have  their  ends  sharpened  and 
pointed  towards  the  enemy.  They  are  interlocked  and 
tied  together. 

Trous-de-lonps  are  pits  dug  in  the  ground  to  about  the 
depth  of  six  feet,  and  are  five  or  six  feet  in  diameter  at 
top.  They  have  a  stake,  sharpened  at  top,  planted  in  the 
bottom. 

Mines  are  deposits  of  gunpowder  placed  under  the  glacis, 
and  connected  with  a  hose  or  train  leading  under  the  par- 
apet. They  are  intended  to  be  exploded  when,  the  enemy 
arrives  over  them ;  and  their  moral  effect  is  immense. 

Attack  and  Defense.  —  An  attack  may  be  made  openly 
or  by  surprise,  but  in  either  case  it  is  necessary  to  obtain 
all  the  information  possible  about  the  work  beforehand. 
Much  valuable  information  may  be  obtained  from  spies  and 
deserters,  but  this  information  should  be  received  with  all 
the  circumspection  recommended  in  a  previous  chapter. 

Another  method  is  by  reconnoissance ;  that  is,  to  go  and 
see.  An  officer,  attended  by  an  escort  sufficient  to  drive  in 


FIELD   FORTIFICATION.  113 

the  pickets  and  outlying  parties  from  the  garrison,  ap- 
proaches and  examines  the  defenses,  endeavoring  to  observe 
the  strength,  equipment,  and  nature  of  the  garrison,  the 
nature  of  the  work,  the  depth  and  width  of  the  ditch, 
whether  dry  or  filled  with  water,  the  number,  caliber,  and 
position  of  the  cannon,  the  presence  or  absence  of  obstacles 
in  front  of  the  ditch,  etc.  If  an  attempt  to  surprise  the 
post  is  to  be  made,  it  should  be  done  at  night,  selecting  the 
time  about  two  hours  before  day,  because  then  the  sentinels 
are  always  less  vigilant  than  earlier  in  the  night,  and  be- 
sides, the  garrison  will  be  in  a  deep  sleep. 

The  storming  party  will,  of  course,  approach  in  the 
stealthiest  manner,  picking  their  way  around  or  through 
obstacles.  Engineer  troops  with  tools  should  precede  them, 
to  remove  obstacles.  If  the  ditch  is  deeper  than  six  feet, 
scaling-ladders  should  be  taken  along  for  the  purpose  of 
descending  into  the  ditch  and  mounting  the  parapet  on  the 
other  side.  Sentinels  must  be  secured  or  bayoneted. 

There  should  always  be  several  false  attacks  made  along 
with  the  true  one,  to  divert  the  attention  of  the  garrison, 
confuse  them,  and  divide  their  forces.  The  false  attacks 
must  be  conducted  by  parties  strong  enough  to  convert 
them  into  true  ones,  should  they  meet  with  better  success 
than  they  anticipated. 

The  leaders  of  the  different  parties  should  all  know 
which  is  the  true  attack,  so  that,  should  they  succeed  in 
getting  into  the  work,  they  may  hasten  to  that  point. 

The  storming  parties  should  be  of  picked  troops,  espe- 
cially of  such  as  had  volunteered  upon  that  occasion. 


114  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

When  an  open  attack  is  made,  all  obstacles  should  be 
destroyed,  as  far  as  can  be  done  bj  the  fire  of  artillery. 

A  heavy  fire  should  be  concentratedi  on  the  enemy's  guns 
until  they  are  silenced.  Shells  should  be  fired  into  the 
parapet  to  cause  the  earth  to  slide  down  into  the  ditch, 
forming  a  ramp  by  which  the  parapet  may  be  mounted. 
When  the  assault  is  about  to  be  made,  a  cloud  of  light 
troops  is  thrown  out  to  open  a  fire  on  the  garrison,  and 
divert  their .  attention  from  the  storming  columns. 

These  last  should  advance  over  the  intervening  ground 
with  the  utmost  celerity.  The  remainder  of  the  troops 
follow  close  to  repel  sorties,  and  support  the  stormers,  who 
will  not  stop  to  fire,  but  rely  exclusively  on  speed  and  the 
bayonet. 

Defense.  —  To  make  a  successful  defense  there  should  be 
troops  enough  to  allow  of  two  ranks  all  along  the  ban- 
quette, and  a  suitable  reserve  beside.  The  defenses  and 
equipments  must  be  put  into  the  most  serviceable  condi- 
tion. When  an  attack  is  expected,  the  enemy  must  be 
closely  watched  by  scouts  and  patrols,  and  lookouts  must 
be  stationed  at  those  places  behind  which  he  could  ap- 
proach unperceived.  Bodies  of  troops  sufficient  to  repel 
and  keep  aloof  all  reconnoitering  parties  must  be  main- 
tained on  the  outside.  At  night  the  number  of  sentinels 
must  be  increased,  and  after  midnight  unusual  vigilance 
enjoined  and  enforced.  In  anticipation  of  an  attack  the 
different  troops  should  have  their  duties  assigned  them,  and 
they  should  be  drilled  therein.  Occasionally,  but  not 
frequently,  false  alarms  of  an  attack  should  be  made, 


FIELD   FORTIFICATION.  115 

to  accustom  the  minds  of  the  garrison  to  such  an  emer- 
gency. 

The  men,  in  case  of '  a  real  attack,  should  be  exposed  as 
little  as  may  be  consistent  with  a  good  defense.  For  in- 
stance, while  the  enemy  is  cannonading  the  work  previous 
to  an  assault,  all  the  troops  except  the  cannoneers  and  sen- 
tinels may  lie  down  behind  the  parapets  and  traverses. 
The  reserve  should  be  kept  sheltered  until  called  into 
action. 

When  a  night  attack  is  expected  with  confidence,  fire- 
balls should  be  thrown  out  to  light  up  the  neighborhood 
of  the  enemy,  and  to  disclose  his  movements. 

Should  the  enemy^s  storming  columns  be  shaken  and 
thrown  into  confusion  by  the  fire  of  the  garrison  and  by 
the  obstacles,  a  sortie  should  be  made  in  force  to  complete 
their  confusion  and  to  put  them  to  rout. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

STRATEGY. 

IN  this  chapter  only  a  few  of  the  leading  principles  of 
strategy  will  be  considered,  the  subject  being  one  the 
discussion  of  which  might  be  carried  to  almost  any  extent  ; 
vast  tomes  might  be,  and  have  been,  written  upon  the  sub- 
ject, but  it  is  deemed  expedient  here  to  spend  but  a  little 
time  in  its  examination,  and  we  will  confine  ourselves  to 
its  leading  features.  This  not  because  the  subject  is  of 
but  little  importance,  —  far  from  that ;  but  because  it  is  in 
its  nature  less  definite  and  fixed,  less  subject  to  specific 
rules  than  any  branch  of  the  art,  and  because  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  give  directions  for  all  the  cases  which  may  arise. 

Strategy  is  defined  in  Scott's  Military  Dictionary  to  be 
"the  art  of  concerting  a  plan  of  campaign,  combining  a 
system  of  military  operations  determined  by  the  end  to  be 
attained,  the  character  of  the  enemy,  the  nature  and  re- 
sources of  the  country,  and  the  means  of  attack  and  de- 
fense." It  has  also  been  defined  to  be  "  generalship,  the 
science  of  military  command,  the  science  of  conducting 
great  military  operations/''  Although  it  may  be  difficult 
to  improve  on  these  definitions,  it  is  certain  that  they  are 
somewhat  vague. 


STRATEGY.  117 

In  directing  the  movements  of  bodies  of  troops,  there 
are  three  departments  calling  for  consideration ;  to  wit, 
Tactics,  Grand  Tactics,  and  Strategy.  Tactics  comprise 
those  precise,  formal,  well -ascertained,  and  elementary 
movements  of  troops  upon  a  small  theater,  which  are  pre- 
scribed in  works  on  that  subject.  Grand  Tactics  have  a 
more  extended  range,  are  the  movements  on  a  more  ex- 
tended scale,  are  less  definite,  not  so  clearly  foreseen,  and 
are  not  executed  by  uniform  technical  commands.  Grand 
tactics  also  have  their  theater  on  the  field  of  battle  or  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  enemy.  The  adaptation  of  the 
different  arms  of  service  —  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery 
—  to  the  different  kinds  of  ground;  the  selection  of  the 
proper  time  for  them  to  come  into  action ;  the  disposition 
of  brigades,  divisions,  or  army  corps ;  turning  movements 
during  a  battle ;  the  posting  and  ordering  of  reserves ; 
feigned  attacks,  retreats,  and  ambuscades,  —  may  be  con- 
sidered as  belonging  to  the  domain  of  grand  tactics. 

Strategy  has  a  still  more  extended  range,  looks  further 
into  the  future,  and  combines  and  directs  the  movements 
of  large  bodies  of  troops,  and  even  armies  over  a  greater 
scope  of  country ;  still,  the  limits  of  strategy  and  grand 
tactics  are  so  commingled,  that  it  is  not  always  practicable 
to  point  out  distinctly  where  the  one  ceases  and  the  other 
begins.  Many  of  the  operations  described  in  the  chapter  on 
moving  of  armies  belong  to  the  domain  of  grand  tactics, 
and  some  were  strategic. 

Strategic  points  are  such  as  are  of  great  importance  to 
us  for  securing  our  subsistence,  insuring  our  safety,  facili- 


118  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

tating  our  success,  or  which  may  enable  us  to  annoy,  foil, 
or  defeat  the  enemy.  Of  such  are  cross-roads,  particularly 
in  a  timbered  and  broken  country,  where  roads  are  of  prime 
importance ;  places  where  railways  meet,  passes  through 
mountains,  fords  across  rivers  and  plains  where  navigation 
is  interrupted  by  falls  or  rapids,  large  cities,  fortified  posts, 
the  capital  of  a  country,  etc.,  etc. 

There  may  be  no  strong  reasons  of  a  physical  kind  or 
reasons  in  themselves  strictly  military  for  making  the  capi- 
tal of  a  country  an  object  of  great  interest,  and  yet  political 
and  moral  considerations  may  confer  upon  it  great  strategic 
importance. 

The  first  things  which  should  engage  attention  in  the 
planning  or  conduct  of  a  campaign  should  be  the  Base  of 
Operations,  the  Line  of  Operations,  and  the  Objective  Point. 

The  Base  of  Operations  may  be  a  point,  but  is  more  gen- 
erally a  line,  whence  our  army  sallies  forth  to  march  upon 
the  enemy,  from  which  we  draw  our  supplies  and  reinforce- 
ments, and  upon  which  we  expect  to  fall  back  in  case  of 
reverse  or  disaster.  In  case  we  invade  the  enemy 's  ter- 
ritory by  land,  it  would  naturally  be  the  frontier  of  our 
own. 

But  if  we  are  engaged  in  a  defensive  campaign,  it  would 
be  a  chain  of  fortified  posts  or  cities,  or  a  river,  parallel  to 
the  frontier,  and  in  which  would  be  stored  our  reserves  of 
men  and  materials,  #nd  behind  which  we  could  retreat  in 
case  of  necessity. 

The  Line  of  Operations  is  the  line  or  route  along  which 
we  advance  from  the  base,  and  it  should  be  perpendicular 
to  it. 


STRATEGY.  119 

t 

The  Objective  Point  is  that  point  of  the  enemy's  country 
which  it  is  our  object  to  strike,,  such  as  the  point  where  his 
forces  are  stationed,  the  capital  of  his  country,  or  the  grand 
depot  of  his- supplies. 

These  three  things  must  be  maturely  considered,,  and 
settled  upon  with  great  circumspection  and  deliberation 
before  we  begin  to  act.  We  must  form  a  distinct  con- 
ception of  what  is  to  be  done,,  whence  to  set  out,  how  to 
go,  and  where  to  go.  If  we  propose  an  invasion,  it  may  be 
that  the  geography  of  our  country  offers  but  one  frontier 
from  which  we  can  advance  upon  the  enemy,  and  then  this 
will  necessarily  be  the  base  of  operations.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  may  have  a  choice  of  several,  and  we  would  select 
that  one  from  which  we  could  soonest  reach  the  objective 
point,  and  could  at  the  same  time  most  easily  keep  open 
our  communications.  If  two  lines  of  our  frontiers  meet 
in  a  salient  angle  penetrating  the  enemy's  territory,  it  would 
be  well  to  begin  the  demonstration  by  assembling  on  the 
apex  so  as  to  create  doubt  in  the  enemy's  mind  as  to  which 
was  to  be  our  base  of  operations. 

If  we  should  move  from  out  a  re-entrant  angle,  our  flank 
would  be  secured  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  march  by 
the  contiguity  of  portions  of  our  base  to  the  right  and  left  ; 
but,  on  the  whole,  it  is  probable  that  a  straight  line  per- 
pendicular to  the  line  of  operations  is  as  good  as  any. 

When  once  we  move  from  the  base  we  should  advance 
with  the  utmost  speed  upon  the  objective  point ;  for  time, 
in  war,  is  the  most  important  of  all  things. 

Under  no  consideration  must  we   expose  ourselves  to 


120  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

being  cut  off  from  the  base ;  amid  all  the  varying  phases 
which  may  appear  during  the  campaign,  this  injunction 
must  be  borne  steadily  in  mind.  Should  there  be  indis- 
pensable passes,  fords,  or  bridges  to  be  left  in  our  rear,  they 
must  be  fortified  and  held  in  sufficient  strength.  We 
should  remember  that  every  inhabitant  of  the  country  may 
be  a  spy  or  a  messenger  for  the  enemy. 

If  the  enemy  is  carelessly  dispersed  in  cantonments  or 
otherwise,  it  would  be  our  policy  to  strike  his  center,  and 
then,  turning  towards  either  wing,  to  beat  his  separate  corps 
in  detail.  Thus  being  stronger  than  the  enemy  in  any  one 
combat,  we  should  by  acting  with  vigor  and  despatch  be 
sure  to  crush  in  succession  all  his  forces,  and  might  termi- 
nate the  campaign  and  the  war  at  one  blow. 

Should  we,  however,  find  the  enemy  on  the  alert,  with 
his  troops  well  in  hand,  and  occupying  a  strong  defensive 
position,  we  may  make  a  feint  or  a  real  attempt  to  cut  his 
communication  with  his  base,  and  thus  inflict  great  loss 
upon  him,  or  compel  him  to  abandon  his  strong  position. 
In  this  way  we  will  attack  him  under  more  favorable  cir- 
cumstances, or,  what  may  be  found  to  be  still  more  to  be 
desired,  compel  him  to  attack  us  on  ground  of  our  choos- 
ing. But  this  movement  is  one  of  great  hazard,  because 
we  must  not  sacrifice  our  own  communications. 

There  may  be,  however,  circumstances  under  which  a 
general  would  not  hesitate  to  abandon  completely  his  own 
communications,  and  throw  himself  upon  those  of  his 
enemy.  If  he  knew  the  enemy's  troops  to  be  greatly 
inferior  to  his  own  in  numbers,  discipline,  or  spirit,  or  that 


STRATEGY.  121 

their  general  was  wanting  in  decision,  slothful  or  vacillat- 
ing, and  that  the  population  was  an  unwarlike  one,  upon 
whom  he  could  subsist  without  creating  an  insurrection,  he 
would  not  hesitate  to  do  so.  It  would  be  an  additional  in- 
ducement to  make  this  hazardous  move,  if  by  so  doing  he 
could  throw  back  the  enemy  upon  some  impassable  barrier, 
such  as  the  sea,  a  mountain  range  without  passes,  or  an 
impassable  river. 

On  the  contrary,  should  the  enemy's  general  be  an  able 
one,  this  attempt  would  almost  certainly  terminate  in  dis- 
aster ;  and  if  the  population  were  warlike  and  accustomed 
to  arms,  seeing  an  invader  in  this  position,  which  in  general 
must  be  regarded  as  a  false  one,  and  stung  to  resistance  by 
his  exactions,  they  would  rise  in  mass  to  the  assistance  of 
their  own  army  and  overwhelm  him.  It  requires  a  great 
genius  to  see  distinctly  all  the  elements  entering  into  such 
a  problem,  to  balance  them  together  and  combine  them  so 
as  to  eliminate  the  real  truth,  and  to  be  able  to  decide 
whether  such  an  attempt  is  feasible  or  not.  It  is  much 
easier  to  write  about  such  things  than  to  do  them. 

There  is  no  rule  in  strategy  which  can  be  dogmatic  and 
exact;  any  one  will  admit  of  great  many  exceptions. 

There  were  never  two  campaigns  or  two  battles  exactly 
alike.  A  general  should  be  perfectly  versed  in  the  rules 
and  principles  of  strategy,  and  at  the  same  time  be  pro- 
vided with  profound  knowledge  of  men  and  things,  and 
that  sound  and  admirable  discretion  which  would  enable 
him  to  know  when  and  how  far  to  depart  from  those  rules. 

Thus  it  was  recommended  above  that,  when  a  general 
6 


122  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

* 

found  the  enemy's  troops  scattered,  lie  should  throw  him- 
self between  them ;  if  he  should  find  them  scattered,  but 
not  sufficiently  far  apart,  it  would  be  the  worst  thing  he 
could  do.  He  must  know  when  he  attacks  one  fragment 
'that  he  has  time  to  beat  it,  and  have  his  troops  in  hand 
again  before  succor  can  arrive.  And  here,  by  the  way,  is 
a  distinction  between  grand  tactics  and  strategy.  To  get 
between  the  enemy's  divisions  would  in  strategy  be  a  most 
fortunate  move,  while  as  a  matter  of  grand  tactics  it  would 
almost  surely  result  in  ruin. 

Should  the  invader  be  successful,  no  rules  are  necessary 
as  to  what  should  then  be  done.  It  will  be  easy  enough  to 
carry  out  ulterior  operations.  But  the  case  is  quite  differ- 
ent if  he  meets  with  a  reverse  so  serious  as  to  require  a 
retreat.  The  invader  will  then  be  in  a  position  calling  for 
the  very  highest  qualities  of  a  tactician,  a  strategist,  and  a 
man.  As  a  general  rule  the  lines  of  operations  —  now  be- 
come the  lines  of  retreat  —  should  be  one.  To  divide  the 
army  into  different  columns  would  be  to  expose  them  to  be 
beaten  and  destroyed  in  detail  with  great  facility.  The 
army  should  be  held  in  as  compact  a  mass  as  possible,  and 
it  should  pursue  a  single  line  of  retreat  towards  the  most 
available  point  of  the  base.  It  should  be  conducted  with 
the  utmost  speed  compatible  with  good  order,  but  it  must 
not  be  allowed  to  degenerate  into  a  rout  or  a  flight.  All 
available  means  must  be  employed  to  deceive  the  enemy  as 
to  the  line  of  retreat,  to  destroy  every  facility  for,  and  to 
throw  all  possible  obstacles  in  the  way  of,  pursuit. 

Where  strong  passes  or  defiles  are  found  which  are  not 


STRATEGY.  123 

likely  to  be  turned,  it  may  be  well  to  seize  and  hold  them, 
and  then  to  await  his  assault.  This  will  serve  to  rest  the 
army,  give  an  opportunity  to  restore  its  organization,  and, 
by  beating  off  the  enemy,  the  spirits  of  the  men.  Then, 
while  the  enemy  is  still  in  the  confusion  of  his  repulse,  the 
retreat  must  be  resumed.  Often  it  will  be  best  to  effect 
this  at  night,  some  light  cavalry  being  left  behind  to  keep 
up  the  camp-fires,  and  to  make,  as  far  as  may  be,  the  usual 
appearance  of  things  about  camp  until  the  retreating  force 
has  got  a  good  start :  then  they  will  rejoin  the  main  body. 

Still,  there  may  be  occasions  when  it  would  be  best  to  di- 
vide the  force,  and  to  pursue  different  and  divergent  lines 
of  retreat.  Should  there  be  a  strong  probability  of  the  dif- 
ferent columns  reaching  the  base  in  safety,  it  will  be  best 
to  divide.  The  columns  being  smaller  could  move  with  in- 
creased speed ;  the  pursuer  would  probably  lose  some  time 
while  hesitating  which  to  pursue,  and,  at  the  worst,  it  might 
be  that  he  could  not  overtake  and  destroy  more  than  one 
fragment,  and  thus  the  others  could  be  saved.  Large 
bodies  of  light  cavalry,  such  as  the  Cossacks,  may  retreat 
with  great  speed  upon  different  points  of  a  desert,  continu- 
ally scattering  and  disappearing  into  it,  safe  from  pursuit. 
This  is  frequently  done  by  our  border  Indians.  The  in- 
fantry of  the  Scottish  Highlands  have  frequently  escaped 
after  this  fashion  into  their  mountain  fastnesses. 

The  Defensive  Plan.  —  A  defensive  war  may  be  carried 
on  by  remaining  near  our  own  borders  and  a 'little  within 
them.  Thence  we  sally  into  the  enemy's  country  upon 
favorable  occasions ;  we  have  the  advantage  of  short  lines 


124  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

of  operations,  being  near  our  own  base ;  in  fact,  the  whole 
country  will  serve  as  a  base  to  us.  When  the  enemy  enters 
our  country,  he  will  be  continually  weakened  by  detach- 
ments to  hold  the  places  he  may  take,  to  protect  his  con- 
voys of  supplies,  and  to  keep  open  his  communications. 
The  population,  being  unfriendly,  will  act  as  spies  on  his 
movements,  and  will  inflict  loss  by  cutting  off  stragglers, 
patrollers,  etc.,  etc. 

The  dispositions  to  be  made  in  the  defensive  plan  cannot 
be  prescribed  in  a  dogmatic  manner.  So  many  circum- 
stances come  up  for  consideration,  —  such  as  the  nature  of 
our  own  population,  whether  warlike  or  not ;  the  nature  of 
the  enemy,  whether  able  and  enterprising  or  the  opposite ; 
the  topography  of  the  country,  and  a  number  of  other  cir- 
cumstances which  ought  to  have  weight  in  the  decision, 
—  that  none  but  the  most  general  direction  can  be  given. 

It  is  useless  to  attempt  to  defend  the  whole  frontier;  it 
is  not  practicable,  and  the  attempt  weakens  our  force  by 
dispersion,  so  that  it  will  have  little  or  no  effect  on  the 
enemy,  and  becomes  liable  to  destruction  in  detail. 

It  is  best  to  seize  and  hold  by  a  considerable  force  the 
points  of  penetration  most  favorable  to  the  enemy,  while 
the  main  body  occupies  a  central  position  to  the  rear. 

With  the  main  body  the  advanced  posts  must  keep  up  a 
constant  communication  by  means  of  swift  couriers,  signal- 
men, and  telegraph.  The  enemy  must  be  kept  under  con- 
tinual watch;  and  all  his  movements  promptly  reported  to 
head- quarters.  When  he  attacks  any  of  the  posts  it  must 
be  stoutly  defended  to  detain  him  there,  until  the  main 


STRATEGY.  125 

body  and  other  detachments  can  be  concentrated  upon  him. 
For  this  purpose  an  ample  supply  of  the  means  of  quick 
transportation  must  be  kept  in  hand,  ready  at  a  moment's 
warning;  such  as  railway-cars,  wagons,  etc.  Should  he 
succeed  in  penetrating  the  frontier,  it  may  be  well  to  lure 
him  into  the  interior,  where  he  may  be  attacked  at  disad- 
vantage. We  should  endeavor  to  fall  upon  his  flanks 
while  marching,  or,  still  better,  to  cut  his  communications 
by  getting  in  his  rear. 

Everything  which  could  be  of  use  to  him  must  be  re- 
moved or  destroyed.  If  he  can  be  defeated  in  such  a 
position,  there  is  every  probability  of  his  total  ruin. 

If  this  method  of  dealing  with  the  enemy  be  not  found 
practicable,  we  will  know  almost  certainly  what  his  lines  of 
operations  will  be.  Upon  these  we  must  have  fortified  and 
strengthened  the  narrow  passes?  or  other  strong  places  not 
liable  to  be  turned,  where  we  will  receive  his  attack,  and 
will  expect  to  convert  his  repulse  into  total  ruin. 

Should  we  be  unsuccessful  here,  we  must  fall  back,  and 
concentrate  on  similar  positions  previously  prepared,  and  so 
on  in  succession,  rememberirg  that  it  will  never  be  too  late 
to  despair.- 

We  will  add  but  a  few  more  remarks  on  this  subject. 
The  government  should  be  extremely  careful  in  selecting 
the  general-in- chief ;  and  when  he  is  once  selected,  they 
should  not  hamper  him  with  minute  instructions,  but 
leave  him  a  wide  latitude  of  discretion.  Nor  should  they 
be  in  great  haste  to  remove  him  upon  the  first  misfortune. 
Misfortunes  and  defeats  have  happened  to  the  greatest  mas- 


126  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

ters  of  war.  Evidences  of  incapacity  should  be  clearly  per- 
ceived before  a  removal  is  resorted  to.  The  fear  of  such  a 
contingency  may  cramp  the  genius,  and  to  a  large  extent  in- 
capacitate -a  really  able  general.  Another  thing  to  be  borne 
in  mind  is,  always  to  follow  up  a  victory.  How  many  great 
victories  are  recorded  in  history  which  have  been  without 
fruit  from  Hie  supineness  of  the  victors  ! 

The  army  should  be  habituated  to  expect  success,  and  to 
know  that  when  the  enemy  is  broken  and  driven  from  the 
field  of  battle  their  work  has  just  begun. 

When  he  is  retiring  in  dismay  and  confusion,,  it  will  be 
ten  times  easier  to  break  him  up  and  annihilate  him  than 
to  fight  him  another  battle.  Let  the  light  cavalry  and  horse- 
artillery  be  launched  upon  his  flanks  and  rear,  incessantly 
pursuing  and  destroying.  Let  the  remainder  of  the  army 
follow  as  fast  as  may  be ;  the  animation  of  success  and  the 
certainty  of  more  success  and  greater  success  ought  to 
destroy  fatigue ;  victors  can  afford  to  go  hungry. 

An  endeavor  has  been  made  in  this  chapter  to  point  out 
some  of  the  leading  ideas  of  strategy :  there  are  several 
treatises  on  this  .subject;  the  elaborate  one  of  Jomini  being 
generally  considered  the  best.  The  principles  of  strategy 
are  not  changeable  j  they  are  founded  on  human  nature  and 
the  topographical  features  of  the  theater  of  war.  These  do 
not  change.  Tactics  and  even  fortifications  change  with 
every  new  armament  of  the  troops,  but  it  is  not  so  with 
strategy.  Hence  the  best  method  of  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  subject  is  to  closely  study,  assisted  by  good  maps, 
the  campaigns  of  the  great  masters,  —  Alexander,  Hannibal, 
Caesar,  Napoleon,  Wellington. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THEORY  OF  FIRE  AND  TARGET  PRACTICE. 

"T^TOTWITHSTANDING  all  the  talk  which  we  hear 
JL  1  about  bayonet  charges,  it  has  long  been  recognized 
to  be  a  fact,  that  the  principal  effect  of  infantry  is  to  be 
found  in  their  fire.  And  this  is  still  more  certainly  the 
truth  since  the  universal  introduction  of  arms  of  precision, 
and  the  greater  amount  of  target  practice  which  obtains  in 
the  instruction  of  soldiers.  It  is  proposed  here  to  investi- 
gate to  some  extent  the  principles  on  which  firing  is  done ; 
but  beforehand  to  make  some  remarks  upon  the  phenomena 
of  the  combustion  of  gunpowder  in  the  barrel  of  a  gun. 

When  powder  is  inflamed  in  the  barrel,  an  elastic  fluid  is 
developed  which  escapes-  with  violence  from  its  confinement, 
and  drives  before  it  whatever  is  in  its  way.  The  velocity 
with  which  the  ball  is  chased  from  the  gun  is  the  speed 
with  which  it  moves.  Velocity  is  space  passed  over  in  a 
unit  of  time.  The  initial  velocity  is  that  with  which  the 
projectile  moves  at  the  instant  of  leaving  the  gun. 

Powder  does  not  bum  all  at  once,  but  progressively ;  the 
exterior  grains  burn  first,  and  disengage  a  large  volume  of 
gas,  which,  moving  with  a  high  velocity,  penetrates  into  the 
interstices  of  the  remaining  grains,  setting  them  on  fire, 


128  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

and  so  on  until  all  the  grains  are  burned.  In  this  way,  at 
each  successive  instant  more  and  more  gas  is  developed, 
so  that  the  ball,  although  it  moves  over  the  length  of  the 
gun-barrel  in  an  extremely  short  time,  yet  acquires  its 
velocity  gradually,  and  attains  its  maximum  velocity  only 
when  it  has  arrived  at  the  muzzle  of  the  bore. 

Any  degree  of  dampness  is  injurious  to  gunpowder,  so 
that  its  effect  is  less  in  rainy  than  in  dry  weather. 

The  initial  velocity  of  the  projectile  depends  on  the 
amount  of  the  charge,  the  quality  of  the  powder,  the  length 
of  the  bore,  the  size  and  density  of  the  ball,  and  on  the 
windage.  The  Windage  is  the  amount  of  space  between 
the  sides  of  the  bore  and  the  surface  of  the  ball ;  or,  it  is 
the  space  by  which  it  fails  to  fill  the  bore. 

For  any  given  ball  and  given  length  of  bore,  there  is  a 
maximum  velocity,  beyond  which  it  is  useless  to  try  to  go. 
In  smooth-bore  cannon  it  is  attained  by  a  charge  one  third 
the  weight  of  the  ball.  If  there  is  no  windage,  as  is  the 
case  in  rifles,  the  experiments  of  different  nations,  though 
quite  various  in  result,  seem  to  indicate  a  charge  about  one 
tenth  the  weight  of  the  modern  balls.  The  longer  the 
projectile  is  subjected  to  the  accelerative  force  of  the  gas, 
the  greater  velocity  will  it  require,  which  would  indicate 
long  barrels  as  the  best ;  but  there  is  a  limit  to  this,  arising 
from  various  causes.  In  smooth-bore  arms,  there  is,  on 
account  of  the  windage,  shocks  and  friction  of  the  ball 
against  the  sides  of  the  bore,  which  rapidly  diminish  the 
velocity,  and  place  a  limit  to  the  length  of  the  barrel,  which 
for  such  pieces  is  about  forty  inches. 


FIRE  AND  TARGET  PRACTICE.      129 

The  more  resistance  the  gas  of  exploded  powder  meets 
with  the  more  force  it  develops ;  consequently  the  heavier 
the  projectile  is  the  greater  the  amount  of  motion  it  re- 
ceives. A  ball  twice  as  heavy 'as  another  will  receive  more 
than  half  as  much  motion  from  the  same  charge.  With  a 
given  charge  small  and  light  projectiles  receive  the  highest 
velocity  while  within  the  bore,  but  as  soon  as  they  are  out 
they  rapidly  lose  it,  because  of  their  relative  incapacity  to 
overcome  the  resistance  of  the  air. 

Recoil.  —  There  is  no  action  without  a  corresponding 
reaction,  and  consequently  we  find  that  the  greater  the 
charge  the  more  is  the  bottom  of  the  bore  driven  back,  and 
the  action  on  the  arm  is  greater  than  it  is  on  the  projectile, 
because  the  arm  receives  the  whole  of  the  reaction,  while 
the  projectile,  on  account  of  the  windage,  does  not  receive 
the  whole  of  the  action ;  besides,  the  gas  continues  to  react 
on  the  piece,  even  after  the  ball  has  left  the  muzzle.  The 
velocity  thus  impressed  upon  the  gun  is  called  the  recoil. 

With  an  initial  velocity  of  1,475  feet,  the  smooth-bore 
infantry  musket  would  experience  a  recoil  which,  if  it  were 
expressed  in  velocities  of  the  ball,  would  be  2,314  feet ; 
that  is  to  say,  that  the  ball  would  have  to  be  moving  with 
a  velocity  of  2,314,  in  order  that  it  might  strike  the  musket 
and  communicate  to  it  the  velocity  which  it  really  has  when 
the  ball  leaves  it  with  only  a  velocity  of  1,475  feet. 

But  velocities  are  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  masses  to 

be  moved;  and  the  musket  spoken  of  weighs  about  174 

times  as  much  as  its  ball,  so  that  the  backward  velocity  of 

the  gun  is  Yr-T =  13-3  ^ee^-      This  velocity  is  sufficient  to 

6*  i 


130  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

hurt  the  shoulder,  unless  the  gun  is  pressed  tight  against 
it,  joining  the  mass  of  the  man's  body  to  that  of  the  gun. 
Now  if  we  suppose  the  effective  weight  of  the  body  acting 
in  this  manner  is  ten  times  that  of  the  gun,  the  velocity  of 
recoil  would  be  only  1.3  feet,  which  is  easily  bearable. 
Moreover,  this  does  not  take  in  to  account  the  crook  or 
angle  in  the  stock  of  the  piece,  which 'mitigates  very  much 
the  effect  of  the  recoil,  because  the  force  being  thus  de- 
composed into  two  components,  only  one  of  them  is  ex- 
pended against  the  shoulder;  the  other  tending  to  rotate 
the  gun  upwards. 

The  ball  leaves  the  gun  so  quick  that  the  recoil  has  not 
much  effect  on  the  accuracy  of  the  fire ;  still  it  has  some, 
and  in  guns  for  very  close  target  shooting  we  see  very 
heavy  barrels  ;  their  force  of  inertia  being  great  enough  to 
nearly  or  quite  destroy  all  inaccuracy  from  the  recoil. 

AVhen  the  ball  is  not  down  in  contact  with  the  powder, 
the  gas,  moving  with  a  high  velocity,  is  suddenly  arrested 
by  the  ball,  and  there  is  every  probability  of  the  barrel 
being  burst ;  and  the  farther  the  ball  is  from  the  charge, 
the  greater  the  danger.  Not  only  may  such  an  accident 
arise  from  a  ball  above  its  proper  position,  but  mud  or 
frozen  snow  have  been  known  to  burst  a  gun  in  this 
way. 

Heating  of  the  Barrel.  —  This  arises  from  rapid  firing, 
and  bright  and  polished  barrels  heat  faster  than  others. 

Experience  demonstrates  that  a  gun  cannot  be  handled 
after  it  is  heated  to  more  than  165°  or  170°  Fahrenheit; 
and  as  gunpowder  requires  a  heat  of  about  400°  to  explode 


FIRE   AND   TARGET   PRACTICE. 


131 


it,  there  can  never  be  any  danger  from  the  heat  of  the 
barrel. 

There  are  three  lines  necessary  to  be  known  in  a  fire- 
Fig,  i. 


JK 


\A 


arm  with  their  relative  positions,  to  wit :  — 

The  line  of  sight)  the  visual  ray  A  B  E  G  which  passes 
along  the  top  points  of  the  breech  and  muzzle,,  and  is 
directed  upon  the  object  to  be  struck ;  second,  the  axis  or 
line  of  fire,  which  is  the  axis  of  the  bore  prolonged  CD  X ; 
third,  the  trajectory  D  E' T  G  H,  described  by  the  center  of 
the  ball  in  its  flight.  The  projectile,  being  fired  along  the 
direction  of  the  axis  CD  X,  would  follow  that  line  if  it 
were  not  drawn  by  the  force  of  gravity ;  but  under  the 
influence  of  that  force  it  is  always  below  D  X.  If  it  did 
not  encounter  the  resistance  of  the  air,  that  is,  were  it  fired 
in  vacuo,  the  curve  described  would  be  a  parabola ;  but  the 
resistance  of  the  atmosphere  modifies  the  shape  of  the 
curve,  and  modifies  it  the  more  as  the  velocity  is  greater. 
The  shape  of  a  gun,  large  or  small,  is  larger  at  the  breech 
than  at  the  muzzle,  so  that  the  line  of  sight  makes  an 
angle  BED  with  the  axis,  and  cuts  it  at  a  short  distance  in 
the  point  E.  The  angle  B  E  D  is  called  the  Angle  of  Sight. 

As  the  lowering  of  the  ball  in  the  earliest  moments  of  its 


132  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

flight  is  but  small,  the  trajectory  cuts  the  line  of  sight  in  a 
point  E1  quite  near  ito  E,  especially  in  small  arms,  passes 
above  it,  and  afterwards  in  the  descending  branch  cuts  it  a 
second  time  at  G,  which  is  named  the  Point-Blank.  The 
axis,  the  line  of  sight,  and  the  trajectory  all  lie  in  the  same 
vertical  plane,  called  the  plane  of  fire.  This  is  quite  natural, 
for  there  can  be  no  reason,  in  the  ordinary  condition  of 
things,  why  the  ball  should  go  to  the  right  rather  than  to 
the  left,  when  it  is  of  homogeneous  material  and  symmet- 
rical in  shape.  The  Range  is  the  distance  to  which  the 
projectile  goes  ;  B  G  is  fas  point-blank  range. 

The  Angle  of  Fire  is  the  angle  which  the  axis  makes  with 
the  horizon,  or  a  level  line ;  on  a  level  plain  the  range  in- 
creases as  the  angle  of  fire  increases  up  to  a  certain  limit, 
which  depends  on  the  size  and  velocity  of  the  projectile. 
This  angle  is  called  the  angle  of  greatest  range,  and  is  never 
greater  than  45°,  which  is  the  angle  of  greatest  range  of  a 
projectile  in  vacno  when  supposed  to  be  moving  with  a  low 
velocity.  The  angle  of  greatest  range  for  a  musket  is  from 
25°  to  35°. 

There  are  several  causes  which  would  make  the  range 
vary  from  the  point-blank  range,  the  chief  being,  first,  the 
velocity  of  the  ball ;  second,  its  diameter  and  weight ;  third, 
the  inclination  of  the  line  of  sight ;  and,  fourth,  the  shape 
of  the  barrel. 

1.  We  have  already  remarked  that  the  velocity  depends 
on  the  charge,  length  of  bore,  etc. 

2.  The  diameter  and  weight  of  the  ball  will  produce 
changes  in  the  range,  because  the  larger  and  denser  it  is, 


FIRE  AND  TARGET  PRACTICE.       133 

the  better  will  it  overcome  the  resistance  of  the  air,  the 
longer  retain  its  velocity,  and  the  more  accurate  be  its  flight 
compared  with  another  ball  having  the  same  or  even  a 
greater  velocity,  but  which  is  smaller  and  less  dense. 

3.  The  inclination  of  the  line  of  sight  will  make  a  dif- 
ference, but   only  when   that   inclination  is  considerable. 
When  the  gun  is  pointed  upwards  the  force  of  gravity 
diminishes  the  velocity  and  brings  the  point-blank  near ; 
on  the  other  hand,  when  it  is  pointed  downwards,  gravity 
helps  the  ball  onward  and  produces  the  contrary  effect. 
But  for  inclinations  within  15°  above  and  below  the  level, 
this  effect  amounts  to  but  little. 

4.  The  greater  the  difference  between  the  diameters  of 
the  breech  and  muzzle,  the  greater  will  be  the  angle  B  ED 
=  X  E  G}  and  the  greater  the  distance  to  the  point-blank. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  less  the  difference  between  those 
diameters,  the  nearer  will  the  point-blank  be  brought.     If 
this  difference  be  continually  diminished,  the  line  of  sight 
will  finally  become  tangent  to  the  trajectory,  and  there  will 
be  no  point-blank;  consequently,  if  the  line  of  sight  is 
parallel  to  the  axis,  there  is  no  point-blank. 

In  the  same  model  of  arms  the  forms  are  the  same,  con- 
sequently the  angle  of  sight  remains  the  same ;  the  charges 
are  the  same,  and  so  are  the  balls ;  the  habitual  elevations 
and  depressions  are  within  +15°,  so  that  we  consider  the 
points- blank  and  trajectories  as  practically  invariable.  It 
results  from  this  that  the  line  of  sight  and  trajectory  may 
be  considered  as  having  a  constant  relation  to  each  other; 
and  we  would  know  the  principles  of  fire  if  we  knew  the 


134  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

positions  of  the  different  points  of  the  trajectory  with  re- 
spect to  the  line  of  sight. 

Figure  1  shows  that,  in  order  to  strike  an  object  at  the 
point-blank,  we  must  aim  directly  at  it,  that  is  at  G ;  that 
to  strike  an  object  P  this  side  of  the  point-blank,  we  must 
aim  under  it  by  the  space  P  M'  =  P  M}  which  is  the  rise 
of  the  trajectory  above  the  object  Q,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
if  we  wish  to  strike  an  object  Q,  beyond  the  point-blank, 
we  must  aim  above  by  the  space  N'  Q  =  N'Q,  the  distance 
of  the  trajectory  below  the  object.  If  we  were  to  aim 
directly  at  Q,  the  ball  would  pass  below  it  at  ff. 

Now  if  we  increase  the  angle  of  sight,  the  part  of  the 
trajectory  E  TH  lying  above  the  new  line  of  sight,  KH, 
will  be  greater ;  the  ball  being  fired  under  a  greater  angle 
will  go  farther,  and  the  new  point-blank  If  will  be  more 
remote  than  the  former  one  G.  The  angle  of  sight  may  be 
augmented,  and  the  diameter  of  the  breech  apparently  in- 
creased by  using  a  hausse,  or  hind-sight  A  K.  (Fig.  2.) 

This  hausse  enables  us  to  look  directly  at  the  object 
instead  of  aiming  above  it,  which  will  be,  of  course,  more 
accurate  and  more  convenient.  These  hausses  are  often 
seen  on  the  breeches  of  muskets,  or  near  them,  and  either 
turn  on  hinges  or  are  arranged  to  slide  up  and  down  upon 
upright  pieces. 

To  find  the  Hausse.  —  Having  directed  the  line  of  sight 
AB  on  the  point  n,  raised  above  the  object  by  the  distance 

Fig.  2. 


FIRE   AND   TARGET   PRACTICE.  135 

q  n,  fix  the  arm  in  that  position,  then  place  a  small  stem  or 
standard  A  K  on  the  bore  of  the  breech,  and  sight  along  it 
from  B  to  q,  and  mark  the  point  K  where  the  prolongation 
of  q  B  passes. 

It  will  readily  be  understood  that  the  use  of  the  hausse 
has  the  effect  of  augmenting  the  angle  of  fire,  for  it  lowers 
the  breech  and  raises  the  muzzle  which  increases  the  angle 
of  fire. 

Construction  of  the  Trajectory The  line  of  the  trajec- 
tory can  be  calculated  from  an  equation  which  is  approxi- 
mately true,  and  then  constructed,  but  it  is  better  done  by 
experiment. 

Place  on  a  line  upon  a  level  surface  a  number  of  screens 
made  by  stretching  canvass  upon  frames  and  fire  a  number 
of  shots,  under  the  same  condition  as  to  aim,  elevation, 
charge,  etc.,  through  them,  and  then  find  on  each  screen 
the  mean  position  of  the  points  struck  or  mean  impact. 
These  points  of  mean  impact  being  connected,  give  the  tra- 
jectory. One  screen  only  may  be  used  by  placing  it  succes- 
sively in  the  different  positions.  After  firing  on  'it  at  each 
position,  the  screen  may  be  covered  with  paper  or  cloth 
pasted  on  it. 

Causes  of  Deviation  in  the  Projectile.  —  1.  The  barrel. 
Want  of  accurate  construction  or  any  crookedness  here  will 
prevent  the  ball  following  the  proper  direction.  Any 
change  in  the  position  of  the  sights  will  change  the  range 
or  the  direction.  Thus  if  the  hausse,  or  hind-sight,  is  too 
much  to  the  right,  the  ball  will  go  too  much  to  the  right ; 
and  the  same  for  the  left.  2.  The  windage.  The  ball 


136  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

being  loose  in  the  bore  will  ricochet  from  one  side  to  the 
other  as  it  passes  out,  and  consequently  will  not  follow  the 
axis.  This  is  not  so  in  the  rifle.  This  bounding  may 
take  place  in  any  direction,  but  it  usually  occurs  in  a 
vertical  plane,  modifying  the  angle  of  fire  by  several  min- 
utes of  a  degree. 

Combined  Effect  of  the  Action  of  the  Air,  and  of  Imperfec- 
tions in  the  Projectile.  —  When  a  body  is  thrown  out  into 
the  air  it  takes  up  a  motion  of  rotation,  and  the  point 
about  which  it  rotates  is  its  center  of  gravity.  The  center 
of  gravity  is  that  point  by  which  the  body  must  be  sus- 
pended in  order  to  remain  in  whatever  position  is  given  to 
it.  The  rotation  is  around  an  axis  passing  through  the 
center  of  gravity. 

If  there  were  no  resistance  of  the  air,  the  centre  of  grav- 
ity of  the  body  would  move  as  if  the  body  were  not  turn- 
ing; but  the  fact  is  quite  otherwise,  on  account  of  the 
resistance  which  the  air  makes  to  a  body  moving  with  a 
high  velocity. 

This  resistance,  which  when  the  round  ball  first  leaves 
the  gun  is  about  98  times  its  weight,  causes  so  much 
greater  effect  as  the  motion  is  eccentric,  that  is,  as  the 
amount  of  air  encountered  is  greater.  In  a  ball  of  perfect 
sphericity  and  homogeneous  material,  the  center  of  gravity 
and  the  center  of  figure  coincide,  and  the  only  resistance  is 
that  of  friction. 

But  as  balls  are  not  perfectly  round  and  homogeneous, 
these  two  centers  will  be  separate ;  now  the  force  of  the 
powder  acting  on  the  mass  is  applied  to  the  center  of  grav- 


FIRE   AND   TARGET   PRACTICE.  137 

ity,  and  the  air  acting  on  the  surface  is  applied  to  the 
center  of  figure ;  hence  will  arise  a  motion  of  rotation  of 
the  center  of  figure  around  the  center  of  gravity,  the 
lighter  part  of  the  projectile  around  the  heavier  part;  a 
motion  which  will  be  greater  as  the  two  centers  are  farther 
apart,  and  the  resistance  of  the  air  greater. 

The  effect  of  the  resultant  of  the  resistance  of  the  air 
would  nearly  always  be  to  push  the  ball  out  of  the  plane  of 
fire,  for  it  would  be  an  accident  for  it  to  happen  to  be 
directly  in  the  path  of  the  center  of  gravity. 

The  trajectory  would  thus  become  a  curve  of  double 
curvature. 

If  the  axis  of  rotation  should  be  perpendicular  to  the 
plane  of  fire,  and  the  center  of  gravity  be  in  that  plane, 
there  would  be  no  deviation.  If  the  center  of  gravity 
should  be  in  the  plane  of  fire,  and  the  heaviest  part  in 
front,  there  would  be  no  rotation  at  all. 

The  motion  of  rotation  just  spoken  of,  in  connection 
with  those  of  the  shocks  in  the  barrel,  gives  rise  to  very 
irregular  trajectories.  The  greater,  then,  the  resistance  of 
the  air,  the  greater  the  deviation ;  and  of  balls  of  the  same 
size,  the  lighter  will  be  farthest  driven  from  its  path. 

And  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  balls  of  the  same  material 
and  less  diameter  will  be  deviated  in  a  greater  proportion. 
Thus  a  ball  one  half  the  diameter  of  the  musket- ball  would 
weigh  ^  as  much ;  the  resistance  of  the  air  due  to  its 
weight  would  be  92  X  8 ;  but  since  the  surface  of  the  little 
kill  is  only  |  that  of  the  larger  one,  the  resistance  would 
be  984—  =  98  X  2 ;  double  as  much  as  that  of  the  larger 
ball  in  proportion. 


138  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

All  things  else  then  being  equal,  the  largest,  densest,  and 
best  shaped  balls  are  those  which  are  least  driven  from  the 
natural  path. 

4.  The  temperature  and  degree  of  dampness  of  the  air, 
and  amount  of  dampness  of  the  powder,  will  influence  the 
range  and  trajectory. 

5.  The  wind  blowing  across  the  path  of  the  ball  will 
cause  it  to  deviate  more  or  less,  according  to  the  strength 
of  the  wind.      If   it  is  a   strong  wind  blowing  directly 
across  the  trajectory,  it  has  been  found  to  deviate  the  ball 
about  |-  inch  in  1GO  yards.     It  acts  like  an  accelerative 
force,  the  deviation  being  proportional  to  the  squares  of 
the  distances;  thus  at  320  yards  the  deviation  would  be 
^  X  4  =  2  inches.      The  wind  may  also  throw  a  ball  up  or 
down  as  well  as  sidewise. 

Inaccuracy  may  also  arise  from  the  unevenness  of  the 
ground  over  which  we  fire  deceiving  the  sight. 

When  firing  at  a  moving  object  it  is  necessary  to  aim  at 
the  point  where  we  suppose  the  object  will  be  when  the 
ball  has  gone  over  the  distance.  For  instance,  a  horseman 
crossing  the  line  of  sight  at  the  distance  of  160  yards  at  a 
gallop  —  say  with  a  velocity  of  twenty -two  feet  per  second 
—  will  advance  eleven  feet  in  half  a  second.  The  ball  will 
arrive  there  in  that  time.  The  horse  is  about  nine  feet 
long,  so  we  should  aim  about  three  to  four  and  a  half  feet 
in  front  of  his  head. 

Deviation  from  Unskillfulness  of  the  Marksman.  —  The 
greatest  cause  of  deviations  are  in  the  marksman  himself. 
A  soldier  after  having  taken  a  good  aim  often  destroys  it 


FIRE   AND   TARGET   PRACTICE.  139 

by  a  sudden  jerk  on  the  trigger.  Soldiers  should  be  taught 
to  take  aim  with  an  empty  gun,  at  first  with  a  rest  and 
then  offhand.  The  visual  ray  must  pass  from  the  bottom 
of  the  notch  of  the  hausse,  or  hind-sight,  to  the  top  of  the 
front-sight,  and  thence  to  the  object.  If  the  eye  is  raised 
above  the  proper  position,  the  gun  will  shoot  too  high. 
They  should  be  practiced  in  snapping  caps  at  a  lighted 
candle,  so  as  to  learn  to  pull  the  trigger  gradually,  keeping 
the  line  of  sight  on  the  flame.  If  placed  three  and  a  half 
feet  from  the  muzzle,  it  will  be  blown  out  by  a  correct  aim. 
From  this  they  should  advance  to  firing  blank  cartridges, 
and  afterwards  firing  ball  cartridges,  carefully  at  a  target. 

They  should  be  taught  to  plant  their  feet  firmly ;  the 
left  foot  thrown  to  the  front,  and  the  right  foot  at  a  dis- 
tance of  one  pace  to  the  right,  and  pointing  in  that  direc- 
tion. The  sights  must  be  exactly  on  top ;  should  they  be 
revolved  over  towards  the  right,  the  ball  will  go  too  much 
to  the  right ;  and  the  converse. 

Target  practice  should  be  frequent  and  conducted  with 
the  utmost  painstaking.  The  men  should  be  taught  to 
judge  of  distances  promptly  and  with  accuracy.  To  this 
end  men  should  be  stationed  at  different  distances,  which 
should  be  known  to  all,  and  the  soldiers  taught  to  note 
what  features  or  parts  of  the  dress  are  distinguishable  by 
the  eye  at  the  different  distances.  Afterwards  men  should 
be  stationed  at  unknown  distances,  and  the  troops  prac- 
ticed in  guessing  them ;  they  should  be  subsequently 
measured. 

Stadia.  —  This   is  a  little   instrument   carried   by  the 


140  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

officers  and  non-commissioned  officers,  which  is  used  to 
determine  distances.  It  is  an  oblong  piece  of  brass  out  of 
which  is  cut  an  isosceles  triangle,,  the  base  of  which  is 
much  smaller  than  its  altitude.  The  stadia  when  used  is 
held  at  an  uniform  distance  (the  length  of  the  arm)  in  front 
of  the  eye ;  the  altitude  of  the  triangle  being  horizontal. 

It  is  graduated  with  a  number  of  vertical  lines,  on  which 
are  marked  certain  numbers.  These  numbers  are  the  dis- 
tances in  yards  at  which  a  constant  object,  like  the  height 
of  a  footman  from  top  of  cap  to  sole  of  foot,  can  just  be 
seen  through  the  triangular  slit  at  those  marks.  On  the 
other  side  it  is  graduated  for  a  horseman.  To  keep  it  at  a 
constant  distance  from  the  eye  a  string  is  attached  with  a 
knot  at  the  loose  end,  which  is  placed  between  the  teeth 
when  the  instrument  is  in  use.  The  string  is  attached  to  a 
slide,  which  moves  right  and  left  over  the  triangular  slit, 
and  assists  in  taking  sight. 


To  calculate  the  initial  Velocity.  —  Let  two  vertical  disks 
of  paper  or  cloth  be  placed  at  a  known  distance  apart  on  a  hori- 
zontal axis,  and  set  to  revolving  uniformly  with  considerable  velocity. 

Place  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  close  to  one  of  the  disks,  being  parallel 
to  and  immediately  over  the  axis  of  the  machine;  fire  the  gun, 


FIRE  AND  TARGET  PRACTICE. 


141 


and  note  the  position  of  the  two  points  through  which  the  ball 
passed. 

Suppose  the  disks  were  nine  feet  apart,  and  the  machine  mak- 
ing eight  revolutions  per  «Siuto :    one  revolution  would  be  made 


in  g-  =  0".125.  The  ball  first  passed  at  0,  which  was  then  in  a  ver- 
tical line,  and  through  the  second  disk  at  F,  which  by  that  time  was 
on  the  vertical  line.  Measure  the  angle  VAC:  suppose  it  =  30° 
=  ^  the  whole  circumference.  Hence  the  wheels  were  revolving 

0". 125 

12 

104 


If  the  ball  goes  nine  feet  in  ^^  of  a  second,  how  far  will  it  go  in 

:  8 65  feet;  and 


10000 
or  a  whole  second  ?  104  :  9  : :  10000  :  x  = 


10000 

ioooo  v 

that  was  the  initial  velocity. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

SMALL- AEMS. 

IT  is  proposed  to  mate  a  slight  historical  sketch  of  small- 
arms^  commencing  with  a  hasty  glance  at  those  which 
antedated  the  invention  of  gunpowder.  It  is  not  pos- 
sible to  find  out  what  arms  were  first  invented,  nor  when 
nor  by  whom. 

The  exigencies  of  men  in  the  simplest  form  of  savage 
life  would  demand  weapons  of  some  kind  for  the  purposes 
of  hunting,  and  for  defense  against  wild  beasts.  Almost 
simultaneously  wars  would  arise  having  their  origin  in  the 
passions  of  men  or  the  necessities  of  self-defense.  Unable 
to  cope  successfully  with  those  whom  nature  had  endowed 
with  superior  strength,  the  weak  would  seek  to  supple- 
ment their  deficient  power  by  the  artificial  aid  of  weap- 
ons. 

The  first  weapons  undoubtedly  were  clubs  and  goads, 
or  sharpened  poles.  As  the  stronger  would  still  be  the 
victors  in  this  kind'  of  strife,  the  weak  would  resort  to 
fighting  from  a  distance  by  hurling  stones.  At  first,  no 
doubt,  this  would  be  done  by  hand,  and  soon  after  by 
slings.  Then  would  follow  arrows  shot  from  bows,  giv- 
ing an  opportunity  for  skill  to  triumph  over  mere  force. 


SMALL-ARMS.  143 

The  discovery  of  metals  at  a  late  date  would  induce 
the  invention  of  lances,  swords,  helmets,  and  defensive  ar- 
mor for  the  body.  We  are  told  in  the  Book  of  Genesis 
that  Abraham,  when  he  went  to  the  rescue  of  his  kins- 
man Lot,  "numbered  of  the  servants  born  in  his  house 
three  hundred  and  eighteen  well  appointed  and  pursued 
them  (the  enemy)  to  Dan/'' 

It  is  very  remarkable  that  we  should  find  in  the  Bible 
so  little  distinct  and  valuable  information  on  the  subject 
of  weapons,  for  the  Israelites  were  a  very  warlike  people, 
and  they  were  almost  continually  engaged  in  war  with 
their  neighbors.  These  wars  are  recorded  with  their  re- 
sults ;  but  almost  nothing  is  given  in  detail  of  the  nature 
of  their  arms. 

Eome,  Greece,  Egypt,  and  Assyria  have  all  left  us  sat- 
isfactory records  on  this  subject  in  the  way  of  descrip- 
tions, inscriptions,  pictures,  bas-reliefs,  and  specimens 
either  handed  down  or  dug  out  of  ruins;  but  the  case  is 
different  with  Palestine.  And  yet  we  are  far  more  fa- 
miliar with  the  history  of  the  Israelites  than  with  that  of 
any  of  their  contemporaries. 

Something,  however,  -can  be  gleaned  by  minute  atten- 
tion to  this  subject.  The  earliest  mention  of  the  sword 
is  in  Genesis  xxxiv.  25,  where,  in  the  account  of  the 
massacre  of  Shechem,  it  is  stated  that  "  Simeon  and 
Levi  took  each  man  his  sword  and  came  upon  the  city 
boldly  and  slew  all  the  males/''  Frequent  mention  is  af- 
terwards made  of  the  sword,  b  it  we  know  nothing  of  its 
shape,  weight,  and  mode  of  use.  It  was  called  a  ckereb ; 


144  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

and  as  David,,  who  was  not  remarkably  large  and  strong, 
was  able  to  use  with  facility  the  chereb  of  the  giant 
Goliath,  we  may  infer  that  the  ordinary  sword  was  much 
less  in  proportion  to  a  man  than  is  the  modern  sword. 
We  also  infer  that  it  was  worn  in  a  scabbard  and  slung 
from  the  waist  by  a  belt,  from  the  expressions,  "girding 
on  the  sword/'  "  men  that  drew  the  sword/'  etc. 

There  are  different  kinds  of  spears  mentioned,  the  lar- 
gest of  which  was  the  chanith.  Of  this  sort  was  Goliath's, 
with  its  handle  like  a  weaver's  beam,  and  its  iron  head 
weighing  600  shekels,  —  about  25  pounds. 

There  was  also  the  cidon,  which  is  supposed  to  have 
corresponded  with  the  javelin.  A  third  kind  was  the  ro- 
macli,  which  was  a  spear  in  common  use.  Bows  and  ar- 
rows are  mentioned  in  Genesis,  while  the  earliest  mention 
of  slings  is  made  in  the  Book  of  Judges,  chapter  xx. 
Occasional  reference  is  made  to  breastplates,  helmets, 
and  shields.  Battering-rams  are  mentioned  in  Ezekiel 
iv.  2,  and  elsewhere  in  the  same  book.  These  implements 
of  war  were  well  known  to  the  Egyptians  and  Assyr- 
ians. 

At  a  very  early  period  cities  were  protected  by  walls, 
from  which  arrows  and  stones  were  fired  upon  the  assail- 
ants, and  from  which  chariots,  armed  with  scythes,  issued 
to  carry,  by  the  speed  and  strength  of  horses,  dismay  and 
havoc  amid  the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  Soon  came  the  use 
of  cavalry  acting  by  their  shock,  and  elephants,  on  the 
backs  of  which  were  towers  filled  with  archers ;  then  cars 
carrying  catapults  and  balistse ;  and  then  cross-bows,  mus- 


SMALL-ARMS.  145 

kets,  cannons,  repeating  rifles,,  mitrailleuses.  Who  can 
foresee  the  end  of  these  mechanisms? 

Courage  and  skill,  strengthened  by  military  discipline 
and  a  knowledge  of  the  art  of  war,  are  potent  elements 
of  victory;  but  the  effect  due  to  the  nature  of  the  arms 
is  incontestably  great. 

Thus  the  use  of  cuirasses  at  one  time  gave  the  prepon- 
derance to  physical  strength;  but  the  invention  of  fire- 
arms removed  this  distinction.  You  will  readily  recall 
to  memory  the  saying  that  "  gunpowder  makes  all  men 
equally  tall."  Even  when  both  parties  use  the  same  arm, 
the  difference  of  quality,  shape,  and  method  of  use  is  of 
high  importance.  Witness  the  speedy  and  pa-ralyzing 
defeat  of  the  Sadowa  campaign,  due  more  than  to  any 
other  cause  to  the  difference  between  the  Austrian  rifle 
and  the  Prussian  needle-gun.  The  greatest  of  generals 
have  ever  been  solicitous  to  secure  the  best  improved 
arms.  The  Romans,  those  great  masters  of  the  art  of 
war,  never  hesitated  to  abandon  their  own  arms  or  mili- 
tary devices,  and  to  adopt  those  of  their  enemies,  when 
they  found  them  of  superior  quality. 

Arms  may  be  classified  into  those  requiring  for  their 
use  more  than  one  man,  or  artillery,  and  those  suscep- 
tible of  being  used  by  a  single  individual,  or  small-arms. 
Let  us  confine  our  attention,  for  the  present,  to  the  lat- 
ter. Small-arms  are  of  two  kinds,  —  those  with  which  we 
strike  the  enemy  immediately  and  directly,  such  as  the 
sword,  the  saber,  and  the  lance  or  bayonet,  and,  secondly, 
protective  arms,  used  for  fighting  at  a  distance.  Of  this 
7  J 


146  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

kind  are  the  musket,  rifle,,  and  pistol  in  modern  times, 
and  among  the  ancients  the  bow,  the  sling,  and  the  cross- 
bow. 

The  first  class  were  those  first  in  use.  They  were  made 
of  wood,  having  points  and  edges  of  bone  or  flint ;  after- 
wards they  were  manufactured  out  of  copper  and  bronze, 
as  these  were  metals  more  easily  worked  than  iron.  The 
precise  epoch  at  which  weapons  of  iron  and  steel  were 
introduced  among  the  Komans  cannot  be  ascertained,  but 
it  is  highly  probable  that  the  short  Spanish  sword  which 
they  adopted  was  of  iron,  tempered  or  converted  into 
steel,  inasmuch  as  iron  ore  abounded  in  Spain. 

The  arms  of  the  ancients  were  pikes,  swords,  sabers,  and 
axes.  The  pike,  according  to  its  dimensions,  was  called 
by  different  names.  The  sarissa  of  the  Greeks  was  a  pike 
from  16  to  26  feet  long,  and  was  borne  by  the  infantry; 
the  lance,  which  was  neither  so  long  nor  so  heavy,  was 
the  weapon  of  the  cavalry ;  and  the  hasta,  of  medium  pro- 
portions, was  used  by  both  kinds  of  troops.  The  pilum 
of  the  Romans  was  about  seven  feet  long ;  it  could  be  used 
as  a  pike,  but  ordinarily  it  was  hurled  against  the  enemy. 
The  javelin  was  a  half-pike,  and  served  the  same  purpose 
as  the  Eoman  pilum.  The  Franks  used  an  arm  called  the 
angon,  which  was  a  javelin,  but  the  point  had  beards 
turned  towards  the  rear,  like  those  of  a  fish-hook,  which 
when  buried  in  the  flesh  or  in  a  buckler  was  extremely 
difficult  to  be  extracted.  The  javelot  was  a  long  and  very 
sharp  dart  thrown  by  the  hand.  The  lance  carried  by  the 
knights  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  from  13  to  20  feet  in 


SMALL-ARMS.  147 

length,  and  had  a  heavy  shoe  on  the  end  to  make  it  more 
manageable. 

Somewhat  akin  to  the  pike  was  the  sponton  and  the 
demi-sponton,  which  was  between  6J  and  7  feet  long,  and 
was  in  use  during  the  times  from  Louis  XIII.  to  Louis  XY. ; 
the  halberd  and  partizan,  which,  beside  the  pike-head,  had 
on  each  side  a  little  ax,  or  an  ax  and  a  point,  or  two 
crotchets  or  hooks.  They  were  in  the  hands  of  the  officers 
of  the  foot  troops  only. 

Swords  and  sabers  were  of  various  shapes  and  dimen- 
sions. The  Roman  sword  was  broad,  short,  and  straight, 
being  very  suitable  for  thrusting;  that  of  the  Gauls  was 
long,  straight,  and  keen,  but  was  liable  to  break  during  a 
combat.  The  scimitar  is  a  heavy  saber  sharply  curved 
towards  the  point.  The  dagger  is  a  heavy  poniard.  The 
ax  is  a  very  ancient  arm,  and  has  had  a  variety  of  sizes 
and  shapes.  The  Franks  used  a  small  ax  or  hatchet, 
called  the  francisk,  which  they  threw  at  the  enemy.  Then 
came  battle-axes,  marteaus  (a  species  of  hammers),  and 
masses  d'armes,  calculated  for  breaking  and  crushing 
armor. 

Among  protective  arms  the  Sling  is  the  most  primitive. 
It  is  a  sack,  or  bed  of  leather,  sustained  by  two  thongs,  one 
larger  than  the  other,  and  wrapped  around  the  hand,  the 
other  retained  under  the  thumb  until  the  moment  of  pro- 
jecting the  stone  which  lies  in  the  sack,  when  it  is  allowed 
to  escape.  By  a  rapid  motion  of  rotation  a  strong  cen- 
trifugal force  is  impressed  upon  the  stone,  which  can  be 
hurled  more  than  300  yards. 


148  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Balearic  Islands  formerly  had  a 
great  reputation  as  slingers. 

The  Bow,  likewise,,  goes  back  to  a  very  high  antiquity. 
The  bow  is  usually  made  of  the  yew-tree,  which  is  both 
tough  and  elastic,  and  varies  in  length  from  5  to  8  feet  for 
battle  purposes,  although  it  must  be  noted  that  the  Ameri- 
can Indians  make  use  of  much  shorter  bows,  which  are 
deadly  at  short  range.  It  is  not  unusual  for  them  to  drive 
an  arrow  through  the  body  of  a  buffalo,  and  the  combina- 
tion of  rapidity  of  firing  with  accuracy  of  aim  is  superior 
to  that  of  the  revolver.  But  the  quiver  is  soon  ex- 
hausted. 

In  ancient  times  the  Cretans  were  renowned  as  archers, 
and  in  times  more  recent  the  bow  was  the  toy,  the  pride, 
and  the  triumph  of  England.  According  to  the  stories 
of  certain  authors,  the  man  who  could  not  put  one  dozen 
arrows  into  the  target  in  one  minute  was  no  soldier  at  all. 
They  report  also  that  the  arrows  would  pierce  through  a 
two-inch  plank  at  a  distance  of  250  yards.  Bows  are 
sometimes  made  of  steel,  and,  whether  made  of  wood  or 
metal,  it  is  the  elasticity  of  the  material  which  gives  the 
bow  its  power;  and  the  larger,  tougher,  and  heavier  it  is 
the  more  powerful  the  weapon  becomes. 

The  Arrow,  as  is  well  known,  is  a  long  and  slender 
stalk  or  shaft  of  wood,  armed  with  a  sharp  head  of .  steel, 
and  having  some  feathers  arranged  on  either  side  near  the 
rear  end.  The  sharp  and  long  head  of  the  arrow  easily 
cleaves  the  atmosphere,  and  the  feathers,  meeting  with 
more  resistance  from  the  air,  are  compelled  to  remain  in 


SMALL-ARMS.  149 

the  rear,  thus  insuring  the  point  moving  in  front  and 
striking  the  target.  By  this  simple  and  ingenious  mech- 
anism the  superiority  of  the  bow  over  stone-slinging  ma- 
chines was  speedily  demonstrated. 

The  Parthians  also  were  famous  archers,  and  probably 
owed  to  their  bows  their  independence  from  the  Roman 
yoke. 

You  will  remember  how  helpless  the  Roman  legions 
were,  even  though  commanded  by  so  able  a  general  as 
the  Emperor  Julian,  when  pursued  and  harassed  by  the 
mounted  archers  of  Parthia. 

The  crossbow  was  a  more  formidable  arm  than  the 
bow  even,  since  more  powerful  bows  could  be  used,  and 
the  accuracy  of  the  fire,  for  the  average  man,  was  much 
superior.  It  was  introduced  into  England  from  the  East 
by  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  at  the  .'time  of  the  Crusades,  but 
it  was  not  adopted  by  the  Erench  till  a  somewhat  later 
period. 

The  Crossbow  consisted  of  a  bow  mounted  crosswise 
upon  a  stock  shaped  something  like  a  gun-stock,  with 
the  butt  arranged  to  fit  against  the  shoulder,  and  permit 
accurate  aim  to  be  taken  by  the  eye.  Along  this  stalk 
was  a  channel  in  which  was  laid  the  arrow.  Towards 
the  rear,  and  about  in  the  position  of  the  hammer  of  a 
modern  gun-lock,  was  a  small  wheel,  in  a  notch  on  the 
rim  of  which  was  the  bow-string  when  drawn  back  for 
a  shot.  To  this  wheel  was  attached  a  trigger;  and  when 
the  trigger  was  drawn,  the  wheel  revolved,  releasing  the 
string  which  chased  the  arrow  before  it  along  the  channel. 


150  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

When  the  bow  was  very  strong,  there  was  attached  a 
reel  and  crank  for  hauling  back  the  bow-string  to  its 
place. 

The  Arquebuse  (from  arqui,  or  arc,  and  buse,  a  nozzle 
or  tube)  was  a  crossbow  in  which  the  open  channel 
was  replaced  by  a  tube  or  barrel,  to  contain  the  pro- 
jectile, which  was  generally  a  lead  ball.  This  barrel  was 
slit  on  either  side  to  allow  the  bow-string  to  traverse 
back  and  forth. 

The  sling,  bow,  and  crossbow  had  the  disadvantage 
of  spreading  the  troops  out  so  that  their  formation  was 
not  suitable  for  receiving  charges  of  cavalry,  and,  besides, 
their  range  was  not  very  considerable. 

Hence  we  are  not  surprised  that  a  low  value  was  set 
upon  them  in  the  ancient  armies  compared  with  the  kand- 
arms,  like  swords  and  pikes,  which  permitted  a  close 
order  and  the  shock  of  heavy  lines  or  columns. 

When  firearms  were  first  introduced,  although  very 
much  superior  to  the  ancient  protective  arms,  they  were 
not  adapted  to  the  kind  of  formation  then  in  vogue. 
Men  armed  with  them  could  not  act  in  the  interior  of 
solid  squares  which  were  used  to  resist  cavalry ;  but  after 
the  fire  of  artillery  had  abolished  the  practice  of  deep 
formations,  and  when  the  musket  had  become  both  a  hand- 
arm  and  a  projective  arm,  the  infantry  found  their  prin- 
cipal force  was  in  their  fire. 

The  use  of  defensive  armor  was  general  in  ancient 
warfare.  The  infantry  of  the  line  wore  helmets,  cui- 
rasses, steeled  half-boots  and  bucklers;  and  the  heavy 


SMALL-ARMS.  151 

cavalry  were  cuirassed  by  bands  of  leather  covered  with 
sheet-brass.  Coats  of  mail  were  worn  in  the  time  of 
Charlemagne,  but  continuous  armor  was  not  yet  intro- 
duced. In  France  Louis  VII.  first  adopted  that  kind  of 
armor.  It  was  improved  and  rendered  heavier  from  time 
to  time,  so  that  at  last  a  knight  could  only  be  killed  by 
the  battle-ax  or  morteau,  which  could  crash  through  his 
habiliments  of  steel.  But  the  fire  of  artillery,  which  soon 
after  came  into  general  use,  changed  this  fashion. 

Firearms.  —  When  firearms  were  first  introduced  as  a 
military  weapon,  they  were  not  what  we  now  call  portable 
firearms,  that  is,  such  as  are  easily  handled  by  one  man, 
but  were  much  heavier. 

The  culcerin,,  the  hand-cannon,  the  baston,  and  bom- 
bard', were  the  various  names  of  certain  arms  which  were 
much  the  same,  consisting  essentially  of  an  iron  or  brass 
tube  which  was  mounted  on  a  trestle  when  it  was  to  be 
fired.  They  were  loaded  with  gunpowder  and  a  ball  of 
lead,  and  fired  off  by  means  of  a  burning  match.  They 
required  two  men  for  their  service,  as  they  weighed  from 
25  to  70  pounds.  Although  such  machines  would  now- 
adays be  regarded  as  ridiculously  clumsy  and  inefficient, 
they  had  a  very  decided  effect,  since  there  was  no  cuirass 
that  could  withstand  their  projectiles.  Accordingly  they 
multiplied  rapidly;  introduced  first  about  1350,  by  the 
year  1380  they  were  in  general  use.* 

*  It  is  said_  by  some  that  the  English  had  five  cannon  placed  on  a  hill 
near  the  village  of  Crecy  in  1340,  during  the  famous  battle  there  under  Ed- 
ward III. 


152  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

Breech-loading  weapons  also  were  invented  and  tried 
about  this  era  •  some  of  these  cannons  having  a  movable 
breech  or  chest  to  contain  the  charge,,  which  could  be 
taken  out  and  replaced,  being  fastened  in  position  by  an 
iron  key  or  wedge  ;  but  as  these  arrangements  were  not 
sufficiently  secure,  and  gave  rise  to  numerous  accidents, 
they  were  soon  abandoned. 


As  the  culverins  were  heavy  and  awkward  to  handle 
and  point,  they  were  soon  replaced  by  a  smaller  gun  resting 

on  trunnions,  which  per- 
mitted them  to  revolve  on 
a  horizontal  axis,  and  the 
inclination  was  given  by 
an  elevating  screw  placed 
under  the  breech.  The 
whole  was  supported  by  a 
tripod.  By  this  means  the  gun  could  be  turned  in 
any  direction,  and  the  necessary  elevation  or  depression 
given  to  it.  The  breech  terminated  in  a  handle,  which  was 
held  in  the  left  hand  while  the  match  was  applied  by  the 
right.  These  guns  were  denominated  arquebuses,  without 
any  very  good  reason  that  we  can  see. 

Soon  after  this  was  invented  a  lighter  kind  of  arquebuse, 
fitted  on  to  a  stock  that  could  be  raised  to  the  shoulder. 
The  vent  was  pierced  in  the  side  of  the  breech,  and  there 


SMALL-ARMS.  153 

was  a  pan  provided  near  to  and  under  it,  to  hold  the  priming 
powder.  The  marksman  held  up  this  arquebuse  with  his 
left  hand,  at  the  same  time  pressing  it  against  the  shoulder, 
and  with  the  right  hand  applied  the  lighted  match  to  the 
powder  in  the  pan.  Still  this  arm  was  too  heavy  to  be 
used  without  a  rest,  which  was  accordingly  provided  in  the 
shape  of  a  fork  stuck  in  the  ground. 

The  improvement  of  firearms  rapidly  brought  on  their 
adoption.  They  were  used  by  the  Burgundians  to  defend 
Arras  against  Charles  VI.  in  1414,  and  in  1449  twenty 
thousand  men  armed  with  arquebuses  marched  from  Milan 
to  raise  the  siege  of  Mariquan. 

At  a  time  somewhat  subsequent,  the  people  of  Brabrant 
used  300  small  bombards  in  the  siege  of  Bruges. 

Firearms  were  slow  in  making  their  way  among  the 
French,  owing  to  the  attachment  of  that  people  to  the 
institutions  of  chivalry ;  but  they  began  to  come  into  use 
under  Charles  VII.  and  Louis  XI.  At  that  epoch  they 
were  quite  common  in  Switzerland,  Flanders,  and  Italy. 

Ten  thousand  hand- cannons  were  employed  by  the  Swiss 
in  the  battle  of  Morat ;  and  in  the  expedition  of  Charles 
VIII.,  one  tenth  of  the  infantry  were  armed  with  arque- 
buses, and  in  the  time  of  Francis  I.  they  had  become 
common  in  France."* 

Although  the  arquebuse  had  been  manufactured  so  light 
that  it  could  be  fired  without  the  use  of  a  rest,  it  was 

*  They  were  introduced  into  the  English  army  in  1471,  when  Edward 
IV.  landed  at  Ravenspur,  having  300  Flemings  in  his  train,  who  were 
armed  with  portable  firearms. 

7* 


154  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

impossible  to  attain  much  accuracy  in  the  fire,  on  account 
of  sighting  while  touching  off  with  the  match.  This  in- 
convenience was  remedied  by  the  two  following  inventions. 
The  first  was  made  in  1380,,  and  consisted  of  a  kind  of 
sweep,  or  vertical  piece  revolving  on  a  horizontal  axis,,  the 
lower  end  occupying  the  position  of  a  trigger,  and  being 
pressed  by  the  finger  in  the  same  manner.  The  upper  end 
was  composed  of  two  jaws  enclosing  a  piece  of  burning 
slow-match ;  when  the  finger  was  pressed  on  the  trigger, 
this  upper  end  approached  the  priming-pan  and  inserted 
the  end  of  the  match  into  the  powder. 


The  second  kind  of  mechanism,  called  the  wheel-lock, 
was  perfected  at  Nuremberg  in  1517.  It  consisted  of  a 
small  wheel  made  of  steel,  having  its  circumference  cut  into 
little  channels  and  ribs,  —  like  the  edge  of  a  milled  dollar. 
This  wheel  was  placed  in  the  priming-pan,  to  the  bottom 
of  which  it  reached  in  the  midst  of  the  powder.  The 
wheel  was  connected  on  the  interior  with  a  small  chain, 
which  chain  was  attached  to  a  spring,  after  the  manner 
of  the  machinery  of  a  watch.  Behind  the  pan  was  the  dog 
or  cocky  holding  between  its  jaws  a  composition  of  iron  and 
antimony,  which  was  called  pyrites.  A  spring  pressed  the 
dog  down,  bringing  the  composition  in  contact  with  the 
periphery  of  the  wheel. 


SMALL-ARMS.  155 

To  put  this  lock  into  action  a  crank  was  fitted  on  the 
end  of  the  shaft  of  the  wheel,,  and  by  turning  the  crank 
the  chain  was  wound  up  around  the  axle  and  the  spring 
drawn  taut.  When  wound  up,,  a  small  pin  was  slipped  in 
to  hold  the  wheel  in  place,  and  then  the  crank  was  re- 
moved. The  gun  was  now  ready  to  fire,  or  cocked,  as  we 
would  say  nowadays.  To  fire  it  off  the  cover  of  the  pan 
was  turned  on  its  hinges,  disengaging  the  pin;  immediately 
the  spring  set  the  wheel  to  turning,  and  its  rough  edge 
whirling  in  contact  with  the  composition  created  sparks 
of  fire,  which  exploded  the  priming. 

Small  arquebuses  with  this  kind  of  lock  were  made  about 
the  year  1545  for  the  use  of  cavalry.  They  were  short, 
and  the  stock  terminated  in  a  gripe  for  the  hand,  being 
intended  to  be  fired  with  only  one  hand,  the  arm  being 
extended.  They  were  first  fabricated  at  Pistoie,  a  town  in 
Tuscany,  and  hence  were  named  pistols. 

The  diminution  of  the  caliber  of  the  arms  rendering  their 
effect  too  slight,  some  arquebuses  of  a  heavier  caliber  were 
made,  the  stock  at  the  rear  departing  from  the  line  of  direc- 
tion of  the  bore  at  a  considerable  angle.  This  was  done  to 
diminish  the  shock  from  the  recoil;  which  was  effected 
still  further  by  placing  the  butt  of  the  piece  against  the 
plastron  of  the  cuirass,  thus  spreading  the  influence  of  the 
recoil  over  a  greater  surface.  They  were  called  petrinals, 
or  poitrenials,  from  the  French  word  for  breast.  They 
were,  however,  very  awkward  pieces,  and  were  soon  aban- 
doned. 

We  may  as  well  explain  the  word  caliber,  or  cotober, 


156  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

which  we  have  just  used.  The  caliber  of  an  arm  is  deter- 
mined by  the  weight  of  its  projectile  in  aliquot  parts  of  a 
pound ;  thus  a  gun  is  of  the  caliber  of  twenty  when  twenty 
of  its  balls  weigh  a  pound. 

The  Spaniards,  under  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  used  at 
the  battle  of  Pavia  the  mousquit,  or  musket,,  which  was  a 
heavy  arm  of  the  caliber  of  eight,  and  required  a  fork  for 
a  rest.  These  pieces  were  soon  after  successfully  reduced 
in  caliber  down  to  eighteen  or  twenty  to  the  pound,  and 
this  caliber  has  reached  down  to  our  days. 

Rifled  arms,  that  is,  pieces  with  spiral  grooves  cut  on 
the  interior  of  the  bore,  were  known  as  early  as  the  end  of 
the  fifteenth  century. 

The  invention  of  firearms  did  not  bring  about  the  im- 
mediate disuse  of  the  sling,  the  bow,  and  the  crossbow. 
They  were  not  finally  abandoned  as  military  weapons  until 
about  1560,  while  the  English,  owing  to  their  superiority 
as  archers,  clung  to  the  bow  until  1627. 

Notwithstanding  the  advantages  presented  by  the  new 
arms,  they  possessed  the  same  drawback  as  the  old  ones  in 
preventing  that  kind  of  formation  necessary  for  resistance 
to  the  onset  of  cavalry. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  firearms  after  three  centuries 
of  experiment  and  improvement,  when  the  invention  of  the 
flint-lock  brought  about  an  entire  revolution. 

The  matchlock  required  the  soldier  to  keep  on  hand 
a  supply  of  slow-match  and  to  keep  it  burning,  which 
betrayed  ambuscades  and  night  marches;  besides  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  use  them  in  damp  weather,  and  quite 


SMALL-ARMS.  157 

out  of  the  question  in  the  rain.  The  wheel-lock,  although 
somewhat  better,  was  complicated,  costly,  and  often  missed 
fire. 

The  flint-lock  was  introduced,  and  speedily  it  went 
through  a  number  of  modifications,  until  it  attained  the 
form  which  all  are  familiar  with,  wherein  the  trigger,  being 
pulled  by  the  finger,  gives  play  to  the  main-spring,  the 
main-spring  dashes  forward,  the  cock  having  the  flint  in 
its  jaws;  the  flint  strikes  against  the  steel  face  of  the 
battery,  peeling  off  little  fragments  of  the  metal,  which  by 
the  friction  and  velocity  of  the  flint  develop  heat  sufficient 
to  become  red-hot,  forming  sparks.  The  shock  throws 
back  the  battery,  exposing  the  powder  in  the  priming-pan, 
and  the  sparks,  falling  into  the  same,  explode  it.  This 
superior  arm  required  a  considerable  time  to  drive  out 
the  match-lock,  which  was  so  extremely  simple,  from  that 
dread  of  complicated  machinery  which  militates  at  the  pres- 
ent time  against  the  adoption  of  improved  arms.  The 
flint-lock  was  introduced  into  the  English  service  in  1692, 
under  William  of  Orange. 

The  musket  was  finally  recognized  as  by  far  the  best 
protective  arm  ever  known  amongst  mankind,  but  it  was 
not  yet  a  ^<z^/-arm.  Accordingly  the  first  and  second 
ranks  were  armed  with  pikes  to  resist  cavalry,  and  three  or 
four  ranks  in  rear  of  them  were  provided  with  muskets. 
The  invention  of  the  bayonet,  which  speedily  followed, 
converted  the  musket  into  a  /land-arm  as  well  as  a  projec- 
tive  arm,  and  it  could  now  fulfill  the  office  of  the  pike, 
which  it  soon  superseded,  and  reduced  the  formation  of 


158  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

infantry  to  four  ranks  at  first  and  then  to  three  ranks.  At 
the  present  time,  in  some  services,  as  that  of  the  United 
States,  for  instance,  there  are  but  two  ranks. 

The  Bayonet  takes  its  name  from  Bayonne,  where  it  was 
first  fabricated  in  the  year  1640.  At  first  bayonets  were 
small  pikes,  that  is,  they  had  a  steel  pike-head  set  upon  a 
short  wooden  stock,  which  was  inserted  into  the  muzzle  of 
the  musket.  They  had,  of  course,  to  be  removed  before 
firing.  Thirty  years  after,  a  bayonet  with  an  elbow,  and 
a  hollow  socket  to  fit  over  the  muzzle,  was  invented;  and 
the  musket  in  this  perfected  state  solved  the  important 
problem  how  to  properly  form  the  infantry  of  a  modern 
army. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  is  accredited  by  some  authors  with 
the  invention  of  the  cartridge.  This  invention  increased 
wonderfully  the  rapidity  of  the  fire,  though  at  first  the 
priming-horn  was  used  with  a  finer  kind  of  powder  for 
priming,  and  it  was  only  in  1744  that  the  cartridge  was 
used  both  for  loading  and  priming. 

.  The  next  step  was  the  invention  of  the  percussion- 
cap,  in  the  present  century.  This  is  an  English  invention,* 
and  speedily  drove  the  flint-lock  out  of  use. 

In  the  percussion-lock  the  hammer  strikes  on  a  small 
copper  cap  placed  on  a  small  hollow  tube,  or  cone,  which 
opens  on  to  the  charge  in  the  bottom  of  the  gun-barrel. 
It  is  much  more  certain  than  the  flint ;  the  explosion 
takes  place  more  promptly,  which  increases  the  accuracy 
of  the  fire ;  and  firing  can  take  place  even  in  heavy  rains. 

*  By  the  Rev.  Mr.  Forsythe, 


SMALL-ARMS.  159 

In  the  bottom  of  the  cap  is  placed  a  small  quantity  of 
fulminating  powder,,  composed  of  two  parts  of  fulminate 
of  mercury  to  one  of  saltpeter.  This  is  protected  from 
dampness  by  a  coating  of  Japan  varnish,  or  some  other 
lacker.  The  ramrod,  or  rammer,,  was  formerly  of  wood; 
one  iron  rammer  being  furnished  to  every  ten  men;  but 
now  all  muskets  are  provided  with  steel  rammers. 

The  percussion-musket,  with  its  improved  bayonet, 
would  seem  to  have  left  but  little  to  be  wished  for  in 
the  way  of  an  infantry  weapon;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
the  number  of  proposed  improvements  has,  since  its  in- 
troduction, been  greater  than  ever  before.  Men  of  me- 
chanical genius,  both  soldiers  and  those  in  civil  life,  and 
in  all  civilized  countries,  during  the  last  twenty  years, 
have  turned  their  attention  in  this  direction.  The  con- 
sequence has  been  an  enormous  number  of  projected  and 
patented  improvements,  some  of  which  enjoyed  a  brief 
celebrity  and  were  then  thrown  aside,  while  others,  of 
more  enduring  worth,  remain  and  mark  distinctly  the 
different  stages  of  progress. 

The  problem  which  those  men  have  proposed  to  them- 
selves had  three  branches  :  — 

1.  To  increase  the  rapidity  of  fire ; 

2.  To  increase  the  range  of  the  projectile ; 

3.  To   increase   the   accuracy   of    the   fire.     To   strike 
the  enemy  more  surely,  to  strike  him  farther  off,  and  to 
strike  him  more  frequently,  was  then  the  object  in  view. 

We  cannot  undertake  to  notice,  even  in  a  cursory 
manner,  all  these  improvements,  for  want  of  space  and 


160  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

time,  —  it  would  require  volumes,,  —  nor  would  the  amount 
of  benefit  or  interest  be  commensurate  with  the  labor  and 
patience  requisite  were  we  to  go  over  them  all.  I  shall 
therefore  confine  my  attention  to  the  more  important. 

The  general  tendency  of  experiment  and  improvement 
has  been  in  the  direction  of  the  abandonment  of  the 
smooth-bore  and  the  substitution  of  the  rifle.  We  have 
already  adverted  to  the  knowledge  of  the  theory  of  rifled 
arms  in  former  times.  The  difficulty  of  loading  and  the 
slow  rate  of  firing  caused  them  to  fall  into  disuse,  or 
rather  prevented  their  coming  into  general  use. 

Their  superior  accuracy,  however,  kept  them  in  the 
hands  of  sportsmen,  and  they  have  been  largely  used  by 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  even  as  a  military 
weapon,  as  is  shown  by  the  history  of  our  perpetual  con- 
tests with  the  Indians  upon  our  borders,  and  of  our  wars 
with  Great  Britain. 

The  victory  of  General  Jackson  at  New  Orleans  over 
the  veterans  of  Packingham,  who  had  been  seasoned  by 
years  of  fighting  under  the  leadership  of  so  great  a  mas- 
ter as  Wellington,  against  the  French  led  by  Napoleon's 
marshals,  was  mainly  due  to  the  deadly  accuracy  of  the 
American  rifles.  The  rifle  is  in  an  especial  manner  the 
weapon  of  America. 

The  Germans  were  the  first  in  Europe  to  make  much 
use  of  the  rifle.  Arms  with  grooves  were  used  in  Ger- 
many as  early  as  the  fifteenth  century.  These  grooves, 
however,  ran  straight  and  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  bore. 
No  notable  improvement  was  observed,  but  they  served 


SMALL-ARMS.  161 

at  least  the  good  purpose  of  demonstrating  that  the  ball 
would  obey  the  grooves  and  move  in  the  direction  of  this 
axis.  Subsequently  an  immense  improvement  was  found 
to  be  produced  by  making  the  grooves  helices,  or  giv- 
ing them  a  twist.  The  ball  was  then  found  to  move  with 
two  motions :  one  of  direct  translation  due  to  the  impulse 
of  the  gases  caused  by  the  burning  of  the  powder;  and 
another  of  rotation  about  an  axis  parallel  to  that  of  the 
bore.  This  latter  motion  of  rotation  was  found  to  be 
increased  by  increasing  the  twist  of  the  rifles  or  grooves. 
But  there  is  a  practical  limit  to  this,  because  of  the  in- 
creased friction  and  retardation  which  results  in  the  little 
ridges  of  lead  which  fill  the  grooves  stripping  off  and 
the  ball  marching  direct  across  the  grooves  and  lands 
or  spaces  which  separate  them. 

/  A  variety  of  circumstances  must  be  taken  into  account 
in  establishing  the  inclination  of  the  grooves;  a  sort  of 
general  indication  is,  that  in  a  rifle-musket  with  a  bar- 
rel about  forty  inches  long  the  grooves  should  make  about 
a  half-turn  in  the  bore. 

Different  Methods  of  forcing  the  Ball  into  the  Grooves. 
—  The  first  was  to  force  a  tight  ball,  either  naked  or  cov- 
ered with  a  greased  patch,  into  the  bore,  and  when  at 
the  bottom,  by  blows  of  a  mallet  or  with  the  rammer, 
to  compress  the  lead,  cause  it  to  spread  out  and  fill  the 
grooves.  This  operation  deformed  the  ball,  injuring  the 
accuracy  of  its  flight,  and  required  besides  much  time. 

Another  method  was  to  load  at  the  breech,  the  cham- 
ber into  which  the  ball  was  inserted  being  somewhat 


162  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

larger  than  the  bore;  the  gases  forced  the  ball  forward, 
completely  filling  the  grooves.  This  was  no  doubt  the 
best  method;  but  the  complicated  and  imperfect  mech- 
anism of  breech-loaders  heretofore  has  kept  them  in 
disfavor,  and  it  is  only  at  the  present  day  that  a  satis- 
factory solution  has  been  found  to  the  problem  to  make 
a  good  breech-loading  rifle. 

A  third  method  was  to  cast  the  balls  with  ridges  pre- 
pared to  fit  the  grooves,  and  load  at  the  muzzle. 

As  you  will  readily  imagine,  this  did  not  entirely  de- 
stroy the  windage;  besides,  it  did  not  give  good  prac- 
tical results. 

The  fourth  method  consisted  in  simply  pushing  a  very 
tight  ball  covered  with  a  patch  down  to  the  position  of 
the  powder,  but  without  ramming.  This  was  the  Amer- 
ican custom.  The  hold  taken  on  the  ball  by  the  grooves 
was  but  slight,  and  only  a  portion  of  the  benefits  of  rifling 
were  obtained. 

As  early  as  1828  Captain  Delvigne  proposed  a  breech- 
pin  hollowed  out  to  sufficient  depth  to  contain  the  pow- 
der of  the  charge,  and  leave  a  small  amount  of  space  to 
spare. 

This  chamber  was  of  somewhat  smaller  diameter  than 
the  bore  of  the  piece,  so  that  the  bottom  of  the  bore,  by 
its  connection  with  the  mouth  of  the  chamber,  formed  a 
projectory  rim  or  shoulder  upon  which  the  ball  rested 
and  by  which  it  was  prevented  from  entering  the  chamber 
and  being  pressed  down  on  the  powder.  The  powder 
was  thus  secured  from  being  crushed  and  injured,  and 


SMALL-ARMS.  163 

besides,,  two  or  three  taps  of  the  rammer  caused  the  ball 
to  expand  into  the  grooves  equally  on  all  sides.  This  was 
a  very  great  improvement;  but  the  ball  was  much  de- 
formed by  the  blows  of  the  rammer,,  and  the  lower  part 
was,,  in  point  of  fact,  driven  into  the  chamber  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  diminish  seriously  the  amount  of  space 
which  there  should  be  between  the  powder  and  the  pro- 
jectile, and  in  some  cases  even  to  press  upon  the  pow- 
der. 

Pontchara  System.  —  To  remove  the  defects  just  spoken 
of,  Colonel  Pontchara  proposed  to  place  on  the  bottom 
of  the  ball  a  small  wooden  sabot,  which  was  a  short 
cylinder  hollowed  out  on  top  to  make  a  bed  for  the  ball, 
and  having  a  greased  patch  on  the  lower  end  which  ex- 
tended a  part  of  the  way  up  the  sides.  The  sabot  was 
to  prevent  the  lower  portion  of  the  ball  being  hammered 
into  the  chamber,  and  the  greased  patch  was  to  clean  the 
gun  of  dirt  and  residuum.  Meanwhile  a  great  variety 
of  grooves  or  rifles,  differing  as  to  number,  inclination, 
depth,  and  shape  of  cross-section,  was  tried,  to  find  out 
by  experiment  the  .best. 

The  Systeme  a  tige  was  next  introduced  by  two  French 
officers,  MM.  Thouvenin  and  Minie. 

Instead  of  the  chamber  hollowed  out  of  the  breech- 
pin,  a  tige,  or  stem,  was  screwed  into  the  breech-pin  and 
extended  a  short  distance  in  the  direction  of  the  axis  of 
the  bore.  Around  this  stem,  or  tige,  lay  the  powder  of 
the  charge,  and  on  its  top  rested  the  leaden  ball  which 
expanded  into  the  grooves  as  before  under  the  blows  of 


164  MILITARY  LESSONS. 

the  rammer.  By  this  time  the  rammer-head  had  been 
hollowed  out  so  as  not  to  flatten  the  upper  surface  of 
the  ball. 

Minie  also  tried  a  ball  of  a  new  shape,,  the  cylindro- 
conical  ball,  being  a  cylinder  terminated  towards  the 
front  by  a  cone.  Near  the  base  of  the  cylinder  was  cut 
a  groove.  This  groove  was  found  to  play  a  very  impor- 
tant part,  but  the  origin  of  it  was  somewhat  singular. 
It  was  intended  at  first  to  be  merely  a  little  reservoir  for 
grease,  to  replace  the  greased  patch  of  the  Delvigne 
system.  A  woolen  yarn  was  saturated  with  grease  and 
tied  into  this  groove,  whence,  as  the  ball  moved  along 
the  bore,  it  dispensed  its  grease  to  the  sides  of  its  cylin- 
drical surface.  When,  from  any  cause,  the  thread  was 
left  off  and  the  groove  remained  open,  it  was  discovered 
that  the  accuracy  of  the  ball's  course  was  very  much 
increased. 

We  will  refer  to  the  philosophical  cause  of  this  effect 
again. 

The  stem  was  1.417  inches  long;  its  top  was  flat;  it 
was  a  cylinder  of  0.34-inch  diameter;  the  rifle  had  4 
grooves,  which  made  one  turn  in  4.664  feet;  the  caliber 
was  0.689-inch;  and  the  ball,  of  which  the  diameter  was 
0.676-inch,  weighed  1.65  ounces. 

The  charge  of  powder  was  64.8  grains;  and  the  gun, 
without  its  bayonet,  weighed  10.15  pounds.  The  elevating 
sight,  or  hausse,  was  graduated  up  to  1,421  yards. 

Experiments  upon  the  grooves  demonstrated  that  there 
should  be  at  least  two,  because  one  caused  the  ball  to  leave 


SMALL-ARMS.  165 

the  gun  in  a  false  direction,  but  that  the  number  should 
not  exceed/cw. 

It  was  also  ascertained  that  there  existed  a  certain 
relation  between  the  twist  of  the  grooves  and  the  charge 
of  powder.  When  the  grooves  were  much  inclined,  a 
heavy  charge  drove  the  ball  across  the  grooves,  deforming 
its  shape  and  losing  the  rotary  motion  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
when  the  grooves  had  too  little  inclination,  there  was  not 
sufficient  rotation. 

It  was  also  discovered  by  the  experimenter,  that  if 
the  grooves  had  a  twist  to  the  right  from  the  left,  the  ball 
deviated  to  the  right ;  and  if  the  turn  was  from  right  to 
left,  the  ball  went  to  the  left  of  the  point  aimed  at.  To 
this  deviation  the  name  derivation,  or  drift,  was  given. 

They  finally  settled  upon  a  twist  of  one  turn  in  6  feet 
and  from  left  to  right,  the  drift  to  the  right  from  this 
inclination  being  counteracted,  as  they  supposed,  by  the 
natural  inclination  of  the  soldier  to  aim  too  much  to  the 
left,  especially  at  long  ranges. 

A  multitude  of  experiments  was  made  upon  the  shape 
of  the  ball;  combinations  of  the  cylinder  and  cone  were 
made  in  every  possible  way. 

One  remarkable  result  led  to  the  suspicion  that  much 
of  the  accuracy  was  due  to  the  groove,  or  cannelure, 
around  the  base  of  the  ball.  Study  and  experiment 
developed  the  theory  of  Captain  Tamissier  of  the  French 
artillery  as  follows  :  In  order  that  a  cylindro-conic  ball 
may  have  the  best  possible  effect,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
point  should  keep  in  front,  and  that  its  axis  of  rotation 


166  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

should  follow  the  inflection  of  the  trajectory.  Should  the 
axis  of  the  ball  maintain  constantly  its  first  direction,,  the 
resistance  of  the  air  would  tend  to  make  it  turn  about  an 
axis  perpendicular  to  the  trajectory,  and  passing  through 
its  center  of  gravity. 

.  For  example,  let  A  B   C  be   the  trajectory   described 
by  the  center  of  gravity  of  the  ball,  p  p'  p"  three  positions 


of  the  ball  on  the  curve  with  its  axis  parallel  to  its  first 
position,  and  R  R!  K'  the  direction  of  the  resistance  of  the 
air,  which  acts  always  in  the  direction  opposite  to  the  balPs 
motion.  It  is  seen  from  the  figure  that  at  the  position  p 
the  resistance  R  has  only  the  effect  to  retard  the  motion, 
but  that  in  the  positions  p  p"  the  forces  K  Jl"  acting 
upon  a  greater  surface  than  R  to  retard  the  motion, 
tend  at  the  same  time  to  force  the  axis  of  the  ball  more 
and  more  from  the  trajectory  and  to  make  it  turn  in  a 
direction  opposite  to  that  of  its  flight. 

Now  suppose  there  was  a  groove  around  the  base  of 
the  ball ;  the  moment  its  point  was  raised  off  the  trajec- 
tory the  groove  on  the  under  side  of  the  cylindrical  part 
would  be  opened  out  and  exposed  to  the  action  of  the 
current  of  the  air,  which  would  haul  the  point  down  again 
to  the  trajectory.  And  if  the  point  were  to  deviate  to 
right  or  left,  or  in  any  direction  whatever,  it  is  easily  seen 


SMALL-ARMS.  167 

that  the  same  action  would  take  place,,  and  bring  the  point 
back  to  the  trajectory. 

Tamissier  believed  that  if  the  number  of  grooves  should 
be  increased,  this  effect  would  be  enhanced,  as  more  sur- 
face would  be  presented  to  the  action  of  the  air.  Accord- 
ingly he  had  such  balls  made,  and  experiment  confirmed 
his  theory,  and  established  three  as  the  most  suitable 
number  of  grooves. 

Balle  a  culot.  —  In  the  tige  rifle,  as  was  seen  above,  the 
ball  was  compelled  to  expand  into  the  grooves  by  blows 
of  the  rammer.  But  this  effect  was  produced  in  very  un- 
equal degrees  by  different  men ;  some  scarcely  expanding 
the  ball  at  all,  while  others  hammered  and  mashed  the  ball 
out  of  all  shape.  It  was  sought  to  remedy  this  defect  by 
expanding  the  ball  by  the  action  of  the  powder  alone,  and 
without  the  action  of  the  soldier  in  the  matter. 

Minie-Ball.  —  Captain  Minie  invented  a  ball  with  a  hol- 
low in  its  base  of  the  shape  of  a  frustum  of  a  cone,  into 
which  a  little  culot,  or  wedge,  which  was  of  iron  and  of 
the  same  kind  of  shape,  was  forced  by  the  action  of  the 
powder ;  expanding  the  sides  of  the  ball  so  as  to  fill  the 
grooves  with  the  lead.  The  general  shape  was  cylindro- 
conic.  This  was  the  celebrated  Minie-ball,  of  which  all 
have  heard  so  much.  The  Minie  rifle  is  any  rifle  firing 
the  Minie-ball. 

At  the  termination  of  experiments  made  with  the  Minie 
ball,  and  which  demonstrated  its  practical  success  in  the 
year  1849,  Captain  Faucompre,  of  the  French  artillery, 
presented  a  hollow  ball  which  he  claimed  would  be  ex- 


168  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

panded  by  the  action  of  the  gas  without  the  aid  of  the 
wedge.  Experiments  showed  that  the  expansion  of  this 
ball  was  very  good,  though  inferior  to  that  of  the  wedge- 
ball. 

And  trials  led  to  the  important  discovery  that  Minie's 
new  ball  did  almost,  if  not  quite,  as  well  without  the 
wedge  as  with  it.  When  it  is  fired  without  the  wedge,  the 
gas  enters  the  cavity  and  stretches  it  outward  in  all  direc- 
tions, instantaneously  and  completely  cutting  off  the  wind- 
age and  filling  the  grooves. 

A  multitude  of  experiments  have  been  made  on  sundry 
modifications  of  balls,  and  many  peculiar  advantages  have 
been  claimed  for  this,  that,  and  the  other  ball ;  but  the 
limits  of  a  paper  like  this  will  not  permit  me  to  enter  upon 
an  account  of  them. 

And  these  experiments  were  not  confined  to  the  ball, 
but  many  modifications  and  projected  improvements  have 
been  made  in  the  arm  itself.  The  singularity  of  the  Lan- 
caster rifle  merits  a  passing  notice.  This  is  an  English 
invention,  and  its  peculiarity  is  in  the  construction  of  the  . 
bore.  It  was  39  inches  long,  and  had  no  grooves,  but  was 
smoothly  and  elliptically  bored  out.  The  elliptical  bore 
had  an  increasing  twist  and  a  diminished  cross-section  as 
it  approached  the  muzzle ;  the  smaller  axis  —  which  is 
to  be  regarded  as  the  caliber  —  being  0.543-inch  at 
the  breech  and  0.540-inch  at  the  muzzle,  while  the 
greater  axis  —  which  takes  the  place  of  the  grooves  — 
was  0.557-inch  at  the  breech  and  0.543-inch  at  the 
mnzzle. 


SMALL-ARMS.  169 

The  twist  was  half  a  turn  .in  the  length  of  the  bore. 
The  ball  was  a  cylinder  terminated  at  the  front  by  a  hemi- 
sphere. There  was  a  conical  cavity  in  the  base  of  the 
ball  filled  by  a  conical  plug,  which  expanded  it  on  the 
wedge  principle.  There  were  three  grooves  on  the  exterior 
of  the  cylinder  of  this  ball. 

The  Lancaster  rifle  gave  good  results  as  to  range  and 
accuracy,  but  it  was  difficult  to  load,  and  liable  to  accidents 
from  jamming  of  the  ball,  if  any  impediment  occurred  in 
its  passage  out  of  the  bore. 

Breech-Loaders.  —  The  great  advantages  of  loading  a 
gun  to  the  breech,  for  all  purposes,  and  more  particularly 
for  men  on  horseback,  are  so  palpable,  that  numerous 
endeavors  to  construct  a  good  breech-loading  arrangement 
have  been  made  from  time  to  time. 

Heretofore  these  mechanisms  were  so  complicated  that 
they  not  only  made  the  arm  very  expensive,  but  they  easily 
got  out  of  order,  and  were  condemned  as  practical  failures. 

Various  kinds  of  revolvers  were  tried  likewise.  In  these 
a  number  of  chambers  already  loaded  revolved  into  conjunc- 
tion with  a  common  barrel,  and  were  discharged  through 
the  same ;  or  else  a  number  of  barrels  previously  loaded 
were  revolved  into  a  position  where  they  were  successively 
discharged  by  a  common  hammer.  The  best  of  these  were 
Colt's,  an  American  invention,  and  that  of  Dean  and  Ad- 
ams, an  English  modification  of  the  principle  of  Colt. 
These  are  so  familiar  that  we  need  not  linger  upon  them. 

Eepeating  Rifles.  —  These  are  a  still  greater  advance 
and  improvement.  They  use  a  metallic  cartridge,  con- 


170  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

sisting  of  a  copper  tube  closed  at  one  end,,  at  the  bottom 
of  which  is  placed  the  fulminate ;  on  top  of  this  comes  the 
powder  of  the  charge,  and  the  ball,  of  the  approved,  elon- 
gated pattern,  closes  the  mouth  of  the  tube,  thus  presenting 
the  priming,  charge,  and  projectile  in  one  neat,  compact 
and  convenient  cartridge,  admirably  adapted  to  breech- 
loading. 

Some  of  the  most  recent  and  best  of  the  breech-loaders 
are  the  Remington,  SJiarpe,  Peabody,  Ballard,  and  the- 
Prussian  needle-gun,  and  Chassepot  of  the  French. 

The  needle-gun,  however,  does  not  use  the  metallic 
cartridge  above  described,  and  is  fired  by  a  slender  steel 
shaft,  or  needle,  driven  forward  by  a  helical  spring  pene- 
trating from  the  bore  of  the  cartridge  to  its  front,  where  it 
passes  through  the  fulminate,  igniting  it  and  exploding  the 
charge.  This  presents  the  unique  advantage  of  causing  the 
powder  of  the  charge  to  burn  progressively  from  front  to 
rear,  thus  making  use  of  all  the  powder. 

When  the  fire  is  communicated  at  the  bottom  of  the 
cartridge,  some  of  its  grains  are  blown  out  of  the  bore,  like 
small  projectiles,  and  lost. 

This  gun,  although  made  so  famous  by  recent  events,  is 
much  inferior  to  some  of  the  rifles  mentioned  above, 
because  the  latter  are  not  so  complicated,  and  can  be  used 
more  expeditiously. 

The  next  progressive  step  beyond  these  was  a  class  of 
breech-loaders,  which  were  not  single-loading  breech-load- 
ers, but  had  magazines  where  were  deposited  several  car- 
tridges, which  were  successively  introduced  into  the  bore 


SMALL-ARMS.  171 

by  the  machinery  itself.  The  Spencer  is  such  a  rifle, 
having  a  magazine  in  the  butt  of  the  stock  extending  from 
the  lock  down  to  the  butt-plate.  It  contains  seven  car- 
tridges, and  the  arm  was  invented  in  1860. 

Next  came,  in  1862,  the  "  Henry  "  rifle,  which  has  a 
magazine  extending  along  the  under  side  of  the  whole 
length  of  the  barrel,  and  containing  fifteen  cartridges. 

This  gun  is  operated  by  two  very  simple  motions,  and 
can  be  fired  thirty  times  in  a  minute,  without  unusual 
haste.  It  can  be  fired  twice  as  fast  as  the  Spencer  rifle, 
and  six  times  as  fast  as  the  Prussian  needle-gun. 

A  modification  and  great  improvement  on  the  Henry 
rifle  is  the  Winchester  rifle,  another  American  arm. 

The  magazine  is  entirely  closed,  excluding  dampness  and 
dirt;  and  while  the  machinery  for  loading  and  firing  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Henry  gun,  there  is  a  much  improved 
mechanism  for  extracting  the  cylinder  which  contained  the 
cartridge  before  firing,  and  it  presents  the  double  advan- 
tage of  the  magazine  and  an  arrangement  which  makes  it  a 
single-loading  breech-loader.  So  that  it  may  be  used  as  a 
single-loading  breech-loader  as  long  as  may  be  desirable 
without  ever  using  one  of  the  shots  in  the  magazine,  and 
giving  more  rapid  shots  than  the  needle-gun  does,  and 
then,  at  the  last  moment,  there  is  a  reserve  of  fifteen  shots, 
which  could  be  fired  in  less  than  half  a  minute.  And  this 
remarkable  weapon,  presenting  such  unprecedented  advan- 
tages, has  a  simple  machinery  not  liable  to  be  easily 
deranged. 


CHAPTER    X. 

MITRAILLEUSE  AND  UNITED  STATES  ORDNANCE. 


mitrailleuse  is  a  revolver  or  revolving  gun, 
JL.  mounted  upon  a  cannon  carriage  like  a  field-piece. 
There  are  several  different  patterns,  differing  more  or  less 
in  their  details.  The  first  was  invented  by  Dr.  Gatling, 
an  American.  It  was  patented  in  1862.  In  general,  this 
"  machine-gun  "  consists  of  a  number  of  barrels,  —  from  six 
to  thirty-seven,  —  assembled  about  an  axis,  to  which  they 
are  parallel.  They  are  revolved  by  a  crank  which  is  turned 
by  hand,  the  barrels  being  fed  with  cartridges  by  a  hopper 
fastened  on  top  of  the  machine.  The  locks,  which  consist 
of  three  pieces,  and  a  spiral  spring,  are  concealed  within  a 
case  of  metal,  4iear  the  base  of  the  breech. 

In  the  Gatling  gun  there  is  an  arrangement  by  which 
it  has  a  horizontal  sweep  over  an  arc  of  12°,  which  permits 
a  distribution  of  fire  over  an  enemy's  front  of  greater  or 
less  extent,  according  to  his  distance.  The  following  is 
copied  from  the  "  Army  and  Navy  Journal"  of  August  20, 
1870:  "The  mechanical  simplicity  of  the  Gatling  gun  is 
its  distinguishing  merit.  The  report  of  Lieutenant-Com- 
mander Skerrett  to  Bear-  Admiral  Dahlgren,  dated  May  20, 
1863,  we  reproduce  as  a  fair  description  of  the  battery  then 


MITRAILLEUSE   AND   U.  S.  ORDNANCE.       173 

submitted  for  approval :  The  gun  consists  of  six  rifle  bar- 
rels of  -j5Q80-inch  caliber ;  each  barrel  is  firmly  connected  to 
a  breech-piece  by  a  screw  of  one  inch  in  length. 

The  breech-piece  is  composed  of  one  solid  piece,  which 
is  made  secure  to  a  shaft  one  and  three  fourths  inches  in 
diameter.  The  barrels  are  inserted  in  the  breech-piece 
around  the  shaft  on  a  parallel  line  with  the  axis  of  said 
shaft,  and  held  in  the  proper  position  by  a  muzzle-piece 
bored  by  the  same  gage  as  the  holes  for  the  breech-piece 
for  the  reception  of  the  barrels.  The  breech-piece  is  also 
bored  in  the  rear  end  for  the  reception  of  the  locks,  on 
a  parallel  line  with  the  barrels,  each  barrel  having  its  own 
independent  lock  revolving  simultaneously,  so  that  in  case 
one  lock  or  barrel  becomes  disabled,  those  remaining  can 
be  used  effectively. 

Between  the  locks  and  the  barrels  is  a  receptacle  for  the 
charges  on  a  parallel  line  with  the  locks  and  barrels.  As 
the  entire  gun  revolves,  the  charges  find  their  way  through 
a  hopper,  fed  from  cases,  containing  any  given  number, 
instantaneously.  The  breech-piece  contains  the  locks,  and 
is  protected  by  a  heavy  casing  of  gun-metal,  made  fast  to  a 
upright  iron  frame,  resting  on  trunnions  one  and  a  half 
inches  in  diameter.  It  is  screwed  to  the  frame  by  four 
bolts.  Inside  this  casing  is  attached  an  inclined  ring 
which  the  hammers  of  the  lock  ride  until  coming  to  the 
point  of  the  line  of  fire,  when  the  discharge  takes  place. 
The  locks  are  composed  of  three  pieces  and  one  spiral 
spring,  and  are  entirely  protected  from  dust  or  any  injury. 
The  gun  is  mounted  as  other  field-pieces,  with  limber 
attached. 


174  MILITARY   LESSONS. 

The  Journal  further  states  that  there  are  now  manufac- 
tured of  the  Gatling  gun  five  sizes,,  — •  "  a  ten-barrel  gun  of 
-j^-inch  caliber,  of  T5^,  of  -j6^,  of  £fo,  and  a  six  or  ten 
barrel  gun  of  one-inch  caliber.  The  first  two  are  capable 
of  over  400,  and  the  larger  sizes  of  200  shots  per  minute. 
The  largest  size  discharges  a  solid  lead  ball  of  \  pound 
weight  (a  shower  of  100  pounds  per  minute),  or  a  canister 
cartridge  containing  16  balls,  and  has  an  effective  range  of 
1|  miles;  the  second  size,  4-J-ounce  balls;  the  third,  1,490 
grains;  the  fourth,  450;  the  fifth,  370.  With  the  three 
smaller  calibers  the  weight  of  metal  is  canister. 

A  recent  trial  of  trajectory  showed  for 

Deg.        Min. 

300  yards  an  elevation  of    .        .        .  0  54 

500      "      "         "                  ...  1  20 

800      "      "                   "...  1  59 

900      """"...  2  5 

1,000      "      "                   "...  2  26 

ORDNANCE   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES   SERVICE. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  different  kinds  and  calibers 
of  the  ordnance  now  in  use  by  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  for  which  the  author  is  indebted  to  Colonel  Julian 
McAllister,  United  States  Ordnance  Corps :  — 

2.90-incli  10-pdr.  Parrott  gun,  iron,  banded;  projectiles  10 \  and  9| ft). 

3         "       3-incli  ordnance  rifled  gun. 

3.67    "       6-pdr.  smooth-bore,  bronze. 

3.67    "     20-pdr.  Parrott  gun,  iron,  banded ;  projectiles  19 \  or  18|  ft). 

4.20    "     30-pdr.  Parrott  gun,  iron,  banded  ;  projectiles  29  ft). 

4.50    "  siege  gun,  iron ;  projectiles  36ft). 


MITRAILLEUSE   AND   U.  S.  ORDNANCE.       175 

4.62-inch  12-pdr.  smooth-bore,  iron,  bronze. 

4.62    "     12-pdr.  smooth-bore,  iron;  siege  and  garrison. 

5.30    "     18-pdr.  smooth-bore,  iron;  siege  and  garrison. 

5.82    "     24-pdr.  smooth-bore,  iron;  siege  and  garrison. 

6.40    "     100-pdr.  Parrott  gun,  iron,  banded;  projectiles  101,  99 J,  - 

and  80  ft. 

6.40    "     32-pdr.  smooth-bore,  iron;  sea-coast. 
7         "     42-pdr.  smooth-bore,  iron ;  sea-coast. 

7  "     42-pdr.  smooth-bore,  iron ;  banded. 

8  "     200-pdr.  Parrott  gun,  iron,  banded;  projectiles  150ft. 
VIII  "     Hodman,  smooth-bore,  iron. 

10       "  300-pdr.  Parrott  gun,  iron ;  banded. 

X        "  Rodman,  smooth-bore,  iron. 

XII  "  Rodman,  rifled-gun,  iron. 

XIII  "  Rodman,  smooth-bore  gun,  iron. 

XV     "     Rodman,  smooth-bore  gun,  iron;  projectiles  328ft. 
XX    "    Rodman,   smooth-bore    guu,    iron;    projectiles    1,000ft.; 
charge,  250  ft  of  powder. 

SHELL  GUNS. 

Bronze,  field;  4.62-inch,  5. 82-inch,  6.4-inch. 
Iron,  siege;  5. 8 2 -inch  and  8 -inch. 
Iron,  sea-coast;  8 -inch  and  10-ineh. 
Columbiads ;  8 -inch  and  10-inch. 

MORTARS. 

5.82-inch  Cochorn;  bronze. 
8         "     light,  siege ;  iron. 
8         "     heavy,  sea-coast;  iron. 
10       "     light,  siege  ;  iron. 
10       "     heavy,  sea-coast;  iron. 
13       "    heavy,  sea-coast;  iron. 

Cambridge  :  Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  Welch,  Bigelow,  &  Co. 


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Welelcer,!  \V.T. 

Military  lessons. 


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